Master of Puppets
by Leandra Locke
Summary: In Fayette, Mississippi, Dean and Sam investigate a lethal accident at a local puppet theater... But they're not the only ones who are trying to find out what's been going on. HET/Gen
1. Chapter 1

Master of Puppets

**Notes: **

We actually created this account years ago to upload some of our older stories, but we somehow never managed ;)  
Now, Narya and I (Leandra) want to use the opportunity to post our first Supernatural fanfic over here.

**Title:** Master of Puppets

**Chapters:** 1 of approx. 6-9; Part I of a series of 5 stories that are supposed to end Season 3 'our way'.

**Timeline:** Starts after 3x11, Mystery spot

**Rating:** R or M overall. We'll never be more explicit than the show itself.

**Pairings:** None yet in this part of the series, but implied **het**-pairings.

**Summary:** In Fayette, Mississippi, Dean and Sam investigate a lethal accident at a local puppet theater... But they're not the only ones who are trying to find out what's been going on.

**Further Notes:** Thanks a lot to our beta-reader **Pia**. She is, unfortunately, no native English speaker, so in case you find anything odd, any expressions Americans wouldn't use (we've only written BE before) or any other mistakes please feel free to correct us. Constructive criticism is always welcome

Another note on the story/series itself: As you can see we're bringing in two female characters for our boys to work with. We've taken a lot of effort (and Mary Sue Litmus tests g) to make them interesting, believable and individual characters with strengths and quirks.

**Master of Puppets **

The familiar rumble of the black Impala was almost drowned completely by the persistent drums and guitar riffs sounding from the car radio. Sam had long ago given up on trying to get Dean to turn the music down just a little, so, now, he put his energy into once more going over the articles they had downloaded.

This morning they had left the diner near the motel they had spent the night in with new directions. The routine search for news on the internet had provided them with something that just had 'paranormal' printed all over it – at least if you knew what you were looking for.

Dean seemed to be confident that his brother would find all the important details they needed; he had grown accustomed to do so over the course of the past few years. While he often pretended to be in charge of the tasks that required strategic planning and preparation for a fight, he gladly left the research for Sam – probably also because he preferred driving to reading through newspaper articles and blog entries. Right now the older Winchester seemed perfectly content with just nodding his head in rhythm of the song, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel. Just good he wasn't singing, too.

"Eeeexit light, eeenter ni-ight!"

_Never rejoice too soon._

Sam sighed and shut his laptop. "Dean."

His brother raised his eyebrows as he looked over at Sam, giving him his best 'I have no idea what you're talking about' look. "Yeah, Sam?"

"Shouldn't we be there already?" he asked, taking a look at the landscape outside.

"Still a few miles to go. Why so impatient, Sammy, can't wait to see the puppet theater?" Dean asked with a smirk.

Sam just rolled his eyes. "You were the one who said that we should go see the show."

Dean just gave him a grin and focused on the road again. Eyes following him, Sam saw a sign that indicated they had 8 miles left to Fayette, Mississippi. "So, what do you think it is?" the older brother asked then. "Ghost maybe? Found anything on that?"

"Not really. I mean, that Newell guy is the only one that really got killed. Previously, we have just a head wound – officially because he tripped – and another one with a knife injury."

"Yeah but what about that family? What's the name again? The owners of the theater?"

Before answering Sam reopened the laptop to take another look at the online articles. "Sumpter. A father and two kids, they run the shows together. But for the time of Newell's death they all have alibis, at least that's what the articles say. So they have no clue what could've happened."

"And what about the mother? Anything on her death, or is she still alive?"

"They don't mention her at all, except for saying that he's a single parent. So I guess she's out of the picture."

Dean shrugged. "Not if she died recently. Could be her ghost trying to prevent the family business from getting sold. Guess we'll have to find out."

"Right." The younger Winchester brother slid down a little in his seat and took another look out of the window. "Shouldn't be too complicated."

"So, what should we wear for the theater?" asked Dean, and the mischievous smirk on his features as he first looked down himself and then to Sam indicated nothing good. "Suit and a cocktail dress?"

"Jerk."

This time, Dean's grin almost looked like that of a little boy. "Bitch."

And Sam couldn't help smiling just a little, shaking his head softly. If he could just get that grin from his brother these days, Dean could say just about anything he wanted.

xOxOx

About three hours later, they were sitting on the old yet comfortable seats in the small theater, watching the show. Neither of them was wearing a suit (and of course no cocktail dress either) but had simply picked a better shirt to a pair of jeans, each. The other audience, many of them families with children, also weren't dressed up in purely formal fashion. Despite Dean's yawning and whining about the lack of popcorn and coke, Sam even enjoyed the show.

The children were watching the string puppets wide-eyed and beaming, following every move of the elf puppet as it argued with its goblin companion whether to help the treasure seeker and his son on their quest or not. Nevertheless, Sam tried to keep an eye on what was happening off stage, checking for anything even slightly out of the ordinary among the audience or behind the small stage. Until now, it didn't seem that way though.

"You know, if this was realistic, the goblins would eat the kid", Dean remarked, checking his watch to see how long he'd have to endure the play. "Five minutes and this should be over."

"You wish," Sam grinned as he checked his watch. "Another ten, no less. They still have to find the treasure after all."

He just loved the look on his brother's face right now.

Dean rolled his eyes. "First fairy tales and now puppet theaters. Something you wanna tell me, Sammy?"

"Just shut up, you're razzing the kids."

Dean grinned, his only entertainment for the evening at least slightly fulfilled.

Twelve minutes and a couple of exasperated sighs from Dean later the play was finally over, and the audience of about sixty people erupted into cheerful recognition. Unlike at a big theater show, the people responsible for the program seemed more than happy to meet their guests. Especially the children were delighted to drag their parents towards the stage where they could see some of the puppets up close.

Sam took his jacket, stood up and looked over to Mr. Sumpter who had come out from behind the stage with his two teenage children. "Alright, let's go talk to them."

Nodding, Dean followed his brother the few steps down towards the stage, heading straight for the owner of the theater. But before they even got the chance to greet him, Sam spotted two girls approaching the man. They both looked around the same age as Sam and Dean, maybe slightly younger. The first girl who was just shaking Mr. Sumpter's hand in greeting had long, slightly unruly chestnut brown hair while the other was blonde, her wavy mane tight up in a loose pony tail. She stood beside the brunette, smiling, but waiting.

"Cute", Dean smirked beside Sam which caused him to roll his eyes. Still, he had long ago learned to get used to this, so he simply said, "You can ask them out after we've talked to Sumpter."

"I might just do that", his brother replied, eying the girls from afar. "I just don't know which one yet. Blonde or brunette. Ah well, I can always just ask both."

"You're unbelievable. Just don't forget why we're here," Sam replied, though his attention was focused on Mr. Sumpter. He and the two young women had distanced themselves a few steps from the remaining members of the audience, and Sumpter's expression was more serious now.

"You know what Sammy?"

"What?"

"You need to get laid."

"What?!"

That had certainly done it, his attention was back at his brother.

"Woah dude, has it been so long that I need to explain it to you?" Dean replied as if he was being serious.

Lost for words,Sam stared at him. "Why, again, are we talking about this?"

"I'm just worrying about you is all." Again, he did sound sincere, but the twitching along the corners of his mouth betrayed him. "Come on, let's go down there and see if we can kill two birds with one stone," Dean nodded towards Sumpter and the two young women, but when Sam looked in the direction,he could clearly see that the owner of the theater looked anything but happy. One hand reaching to his forehead,he let his shoulders slump. The brunette girl seemed to react and laid one hand on his arm in a comforting or apologizing gesture, Sam couldn't tell. Sumpter, however, drew back from the contact, shook his head and raised one hand as if to tell them he wanted to end the conversation, whatever it had been about. The girls exchanged a brief glance, nodded and gave Sumpter a final smile before they turned around to leave.

Seeing their chance to talk to the man slip through their fingers Sam quickly reacted, starting to make his way through the last remaining people. "Mr. Sumpter?"

The man looked at them for a brief moment, but then he shook his head, giving them a half-hearted smile. "I'm sorry. I need to get going", he said, and even though Sam didn't know what Sumpter's voice normally sounded like, it seemed troubled right now.

"We just wanted to congratulate you on that really entertaining show", Dean quickly added, trying to convince the guy to stay and talk, but to no avail. Just muttering a quick 'thanks', accompanied by another fake smile, he headed onto the stage, disappearing behind the curtain.

"Now that went well," Dean said, his tone dripping with dry sarcasm.

Sam shot him a glare. "Thanks to today's love interests of yours."

Dean just shrugged but then furrowed his brow. "Hm. I wonder what they said to him."

Slowly Sam put his jacket on, both of them already on their way back out of the theater. "If you ask me, I'd say they talked about the murder if you think about his reaction, but then again why should anyone ask him about that?"

Again, Dean shrugged. "No clue. Maybe just those nosy kind of chicks who want to give their two cents on everything," he suggested. "Guess we'll have to come back another time."

Nodding, Sam followed his brother towards the lobby and the exit.

They were the last ones to leave the theater, stepping out into the fresh evening air. The sun had just set, the sky appeared in shades of pale blue and grey.

Sam stopped, a sudden thought in mind. "Maybe they were cops."

"Nah, too young and too cute", Dean stated, expression dead serious but eyes glinting waggishly.

Ignoring the last comment Sam just replied to the more factual assumption. "Hm, yeah. And cops probably wouldn't have watched the show."

"Mulder and Scully would have", Dean replied as they walked towards the spot where they had parked the Impala. Before they reached it, however, Sam felt Dean's hand briefly smacking his upper arm and then saw him pointing his chin to the other side of the street. On both sides of an old, cherry-red Buick stood the two girls, arguing about something for a moment before they both got into the car, the brunette girl on the driver's side, and drove off. "Cops or FBI agents don't have cars like that, though", Dean added, and Sam could only agree.

"So what now?"

"I don't know about you, but I'm starving. Let's go to that diner we passed earlier."

With another glance at the theater behind him Sam nodded, hoping that despite not having talked to Sumpter today, this mystery would be solved quickly. He still had other things to worry about after all, no matter how often people told him that there was no way for him to save his brother.

xOxOx

"We're not gonna eat here again." With a grumpy snort Dean shut the door of the driver's seat, starting the engine when Sam had sat down as well. "That burger was the worst I've ever had. Tasted like rotten rat or something."

Seriously, one deserved to have a decent meal at least once a day when they had only eight more weeks to live, right? At least the fries had been somewhat edible.

"Well, hopefully, we'll not be here too long anyway, in case there's no other possibility to eat something around here," his younger brother answered, making himself comfortable in the passenger's seat.

"There's this pizza parlor near the theater. I say we have lunch there tomorrow. Hey, do we have some of those Butterfingers left?"

"No, I ate it this morning after you stole the last muffin while I was sleeping", his brother said in a slightly accusing tone

"Dude, you ate the last Butterfinger?" Dean inquired, eying his brother with raised eyebrows. "Would you eat my last meal, too?"

Sam's glare changed from playfully angry to really pissed as he looked at his brother. "Screw you, Dean. Why are you making jokes about this?"

Dean had noticed his mistake in the moment he had finished his words, but now it was too late to take it back. He wasn't in the mood for apologies either because they'd lead to touchy-feely confessions and admissions, and he'd had enough of that. "Why shouldn't I?" he asked, trying to sound resigned but ending up exasperated.

"Because I fail to see all fun in it," Sam answered, audibly angered. "And I hate how you always fall back into that damn 'I don't care about anything' attitude."

Turning to his right with a little more speed than needed, Dean refused to look at his brother, focusing only on the street. "What the hell am I supposed to do, Sam? Whine and cry about it all day? Would you like that better?" He hadn't meant to yell but couldn't quite prevent his voice from rising a few notches.

"I already told you, I just want you to be yourself! I'm tired of your charade which I can see right through anyway, and you already conceded with that, so I don't know why you still keep it up. I sure as hell hope not for me."

Sam's hand rose to his forehead, and Dean recognized it, along with his expression, as a sign of an oncoming headache.

"Oh no, Sam", he replied, voice softer again but his tone not completely free of unnerved bitterness. "It's not always about you, you know? This is about me, and the only option I got right now is either ignore it or laugh about it. Pretending it's not happening would be too much to ask, even for me, so I take the only option I've got left."

Sam was silent for a moment, and the frustration, anger and apprehension hung between them.

"So does it help?"

"Not if nobody's laughing at my jokes", Dean answered, trying to raise the mood again with a smirk along his lips that wasn't completely genuine. He hated fighting with his brother like this, when it was serious, and especially in the context of his upcoming death. Sometimes he thought that maybe it would be better if they talked this all out, talked about everything that came to their minds, shared their feelings and all that crap, but then again, even though Dean would never admit it, he was scared of that. Scared of pondering this too much, scared of not being able to enjoy the remaining time he had because all he'd be able to think about was fear and devastation.

No, cracking a joke here and there definitely was the better option.

His brother sighed, but obviously he also had cooled down a little, even if Dean knew that he was not exactly feeling better.

"We still have two months left. And Ruby said that she could help you. Next time I see her I won't let her off the hook that easily."

For a split second Dean considered telling Sam the truth, relieving him of the useless hopes he still held up, but then again he just couldn't. Instead,he turned his head towards his brother and gave him a weak smile. "Yeah, you do that. You're good at talking with girls. She won't deny you anything." The smile turned into a smirk.

Sam returned the glance, just raising an eyebrow.

Dean chuckled. "Oh come on, don't tell me you haven't thought about it. You'd make a nice couple, you two. Sure, she's a little evil but that'll only make it more interesting."

"You don't really want me to hook up with a demon, do you?" the younger asked, an amused smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"She ain't no regular demon", Dean answered. Of course he wasn't serious about Ruby, he didn't even like the bitch, but somehow getting to know her had provided him the only thing that kept him from desperation: she had never lost her humanness completely, even after centuries in hell.

"Yeah, luckily. Otherwise our chances really would diminish to quite a sad pile of nothing."

"Yeah", Dean said, not knowing what else to add. Sooner or later he would have to tell Sam the truth, but he hoped for Ruby to take over that job for him. Maybe it wasn't fair, but he preferred his brother being angry with that demon chick over him. "So, what do you wanna do tonight?" he asked, driving onto the parking lot of their motel. Before Sam could give an answer, however, Dean's eyes spotted the red Buick they had seen earlier. "Dude."

Automatically Sam's eyes followed Dean's gaze, and his brows furrowed. "Now what, they're in the same motel?"

"Seems like it."

Brow furrowed, Dean got out of the Impala, having parked just two lots away from the Buick, a Century model, as he could see now, the ones that were built in the mid 70s.

"Perhaps they just know the family and came for a visit," Sam suggested, having followed Dean out of the car.

"Then why are they staying at a cheap motel? And what was Sumpter so upset about earlier?" It made absolutely no sense whatsoever. "Maybe they just didn't like the show." Shrugging and deciding not to ponder about those two girls and their reason for being here any longer, Dean headed for the motel room. "You didn't drink the last few beers, too, did you?"

Obviously,Sam saved his breath on that question, just making a non-committing motion with his hand, as this question was rhetoric for both of them.

"Good, then let's have one and see what's on TV," Dean suggested, unlocking the door to the room. Judging from the looks of the motel they might just have a few more channels than just the ones with porn. Not that Dean would've minded porn, generally, but he kind of preferred watching it alone.

xO TBC Ox

Please let us know what you think, and we'll post the second chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

Master of Puppets

**Notes: **

Actually, I only wanted to update as soon as we got at least one review, but knowing that most readers don't leave feedback, I'll update anyway. But please, give us a review for our story, because it's just no fun when you don't know whether anybody even likes the story at all.

**Also, the story is COMPLETE**. I'm only going through each chapter, making some minor corrections here and there and will update frequently. So don't worry that you'll never get to read the ending.

So, be nice, and leave us some feedback, pretty please :)

**Title:** Master of Puppets

**Chapters:** 2 of approx. 6-9; Part I of a series of 5 stories that are supposed to end Season 3 'our way'.

**Master of Puppets – Chapter 2**

As they were walking down the street the next day, both boys were wearing their suits. They had decided to talk to George McKenzie as their next step, the man who had sustained the head injury in the theater, hoping that he'd tell them more about what happened than what the papers said. The Impala was parked two blocks away so that it wouldn't give them away to attentive observers.

"What number was it again? Fourty-two?" Dean asked, adjusting his tie as they walked.

"Yep," Sam nodded, looking ahead the neatly symmetrical built rows of nice, expensive looking houses with lush gardens. "You have your ID?"

"Do you have yours, bikini inspector?" Dean replied with dry ridicule in his voice.

Sam slapped his brother across his upper arm. "I so still did not forgive you for this."

"Ow, don't hit me!" Dean huffed in a slightly exaggerated manner. "I'm the older one."

"Well you deserved it."

Now Sam adjusted his tie as well, rearranging his hair. He hated it all slicked back like this.

"Don't you think about hitting me back, we're there."

Dean just gave a grumbling sound, but then he stopped dead in his steps. At first Sam didn't realize what was going on, but when he let his gaze wander forward to the sidewalk, he saw two familiar faces, just that their whole attire seemed quite different than the day before. Instead of jeans and nice but casual tops the two girls were wearing dark pants, the blonde girl with a blue pinstripe blazer, the brunette with a black one. Both had their hair pinned up in a business-like manner.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me", muttered Dean.

Stunned, Sam watched the two coming closer, obviously also studying them. He exchanged a quick glance with his brother. They had one advantage – if they were lucky, the girls hadn't noticed them before in the theater.

No matter if they had or not, they were eying them up and down suspiciously. Especially the brunette girl_,_ who was slightly taller than the blonde_,_ let her gaze linger on them for a long time.

"Can we help you, ladies?" Dean asked now, wearing his sweetest smile, his tone ever so polite and friendly.

"I was going to ask the same", replied the brunette, raising one eyebrow and adding, "Gentlemen."

"We have business here," Sam replied, now both of them completely in their well practiced act, expressions serious.

"What my partner wanted to say", Dean added, still wearing that almost ridiculously polite smile, "is that we are FBI agents. So whatever it is that brings you to Mr. McKenzie, we'll have to ask you ladies to wait a few minutes."

The brunette looked at both of them suspiciously, folding her arms in front of her chest. "Oh. Then you can surely show us some ID."

Simultaneously_,_ said IDs went up, and both girls studied them for a moment without words. Then they exchanged a quick glance and the blonde said, not impolitely, "You're quite young for FBI agents."

Dean shrugged and then laid his hand on Sam's shoulder. "Oh, yeah, he's a genius. I just look a lot younger than I am."

Sam resisted the urge to roll his eyes and tried to remind Dean mentally of a little professionalism. It didn't work, of course.

"So now that you know who we are," he continued the conversation with the two young women, "won't you tell us who you are and why you're here?"

"I don't know why this is, despite you being FBI agents," the brunette's voice dripped with sarcasm – she didn't seem to buy their story completely, "any of your business. But if you must know, my name is Claire Dickinson, and I'm a private investigator. And this is my assistant Valerie."

They should really shorten this right now, Sam thought as he watched Dean open his mouth to answer. Before either of them could say anything else, though, there was another voice coming from their right.

"Excuse me?"

All four heads turned towards the now opened door of the house where a man in his fifties had appeared. The brunette woman was the first to step forward.

"Mr. McKenzie, I'm Claire Dickinson, private investigator", she said, holding her ID up with the left hand while extending her right for a greeting.

"I'm agent Kilmister, FBI and my partner agent Wallis", said Dean, also showing his badge and approaching the door. Sam still thought the names sounded stupid. "And I'll kindly have to ask those ladies to let us talk to you first, sir."

Somehow this felt fairly ridiculous, and the poor man seemed quite confused for a moment. "Well, I can't just let these young ladies stand out here. I'd invite you all in, if you have no objections," McKenzie said with a smile that the blonde immediately returned.

"That would be very kind of you, Mr. McKenzie."

Dean shot Sam a look that said he didn't like the situation at all but they had no other choice, obviously. Following the man through the entry door and into the living room, Sam and Dean sat down on the couch while the brunette and Mr. McKenzie chose the two armchairs standing on the other side of the coffee table. The blonde girl had to sit down between the two brothers and Dean barely managed to conceal his grin. It didn't seem like she felt uncomfortable with that though.

"So," the elderly man started now, his gaze flickering over his four guests. "I trust you ladies and gentlemen will tell me why you're visiting me." His eyes came to rest on the boys – obviously their FBI badges had been more impressive than the private investigator one.

"Yes, I'd like to know that too. I hadn't heard the Newell case was an affair of the FBI", Claire Dickinson said with a somewhat obvious hint of suspicion in her voice but now a lot politer than she had been earlier.

"The sheriff called us because he couldn't handle Mr. Newell's murder alone", replied Dean, wearing a similarly friendly expression. "Oh, but don't worry, sir, you're no suspect. We just came to ask you about what happened to you at that theater."

Sam saw something flicker across McKenzie's face just for the fraction of a second, and he couldn't quite grasp it before it was gone. But he was sure that he recognized it from other people he had seen in such a situation, other people they had questioned before countless times.

After leaning back in his armchair, the man took a small breath and started. "I was interested in buying the building, so that day I was there to meet Mr. Sumpter. He gave me a tour through the premises." He paused for a moment, in thought. "At one point he left for the bathroom for a minute, and I took a look around the auditorium and… well, I think it was a door closing that startled me and I lost footage."  
The girl next to Sam leaned forward in interest, and for just a moment he thought he smelled something like magnolia. "Do you mean the bathroom door?"

McKenzie's brow furrowed, but then he shook his head immediately. "No, Mr. Sumpter was nowhere near where I was. I went to look around behind the stage. The bathroom is in a completely different direction."

"You heard a door closing and then tripped?" Dean asked even though they had already heard Mr. McKenzie say the exact same thing.

"Yes, that's what happened."

"And you saw nothing off the usual?" Dean inquired and Sam could see the brunette's eyes widen for the fraction of a second.

"What do you mean, off the usual?" McKenzie asked after a short pause.

Dean shrugged and leaned forward, arms resting on his knees. "Well, I don't know. Something else that startled you maybe?"

Raising her eyebrows, as it looked like unintentionally, Claire Dickinson looked back and forth between McKenzie and Dean.

There was another short moment of silence, then an ever so small but also a little unsure smile flickered over McKenzie's lips and he shook his head softly. "No… I don't think so, no. Also nothing I'd really connect to Mr. Newell – that's why you're here, aren't you?"

"Of course," Sam answered with a polite nod. He wasn't too sure that this was all there was to the story. "So why exactly did you refrain from buying the theater in the end?"

"Well, I…" Clearly, the man was looking for an explanation that didn't match what he really thought. "The building was in a worse shape than I'd expected. The construction costs would have been too high."

"Oh, really?" asked the brunette girl. "But judging from the technical surveys that have been made by the real estate agents the building only needs some minor reparations."

Before McKenzie could answer, however, it was Dean to speak first, challenging his opponent – or at least it looked like it. "By the way, Miss Dickinson, who assigned you to investigate the case?"

"That's confident, and unless you have justified reasons for me to testify in this case_, _I would like to keep my client's privacy."

Sam held back a sigh, catching Dean's glance a few moments later. They had gotten everything they needed here, or at least they had everything the man was willing to give. An ever so soft nod indicated that they should leave.

McKenzie seemed to have the same thought in mind. Shrugging slightly_,_ he looked at all four of his guests. "Well, I don't know what else to tell you. Besides, I've already told the police everything. It was an accident, nothing more."

"Thank you for your time and patience, Mr. McKenzie", said the brunette as she got up and shook the host's hand.

The three of them on the sofa followed suit. "We'll contact you if we have any more questions," Sam said, his tone polite as he also shook McKenzie's hand, followed by his brother. The blonde girl was the last to take her leave while Sam and Dean stepped out of the house first. "Let's get outta here", Sam's brother muttered, not minding to even look back or say goodbye to the two young women.

They walked in silence for a while, and when Sam took a glance back as they rounded a corner, there was no sign of the young women. They'd probably left in the same direction they had come from. Sam let out his breath.

"No way in hell that guy told us everything that happened."

"No way in hell that chick's a private investigator. If so, she'd be a pretty lousy one."

At that Sam grinned a little, his thoughts on them for a few second. "Think they're here for the same reason we are?"

"What?" Dean asked, glancing at his brother clueless.

Sam raised his eyebrows. "Dude, don't they remind you of someone? Or the way they came on to the guy?"

His eyebrows twisting for the fraction of a second, Dean shrugged. "Cagney and Lacey?"

The younger one gave an exasperated sigh. "Dean, come on. If they're not private investigators, then what else could they be, huh?"

"Two chicks that watch too many crime shows and decided to play CSI Fayette?"

Sometimes Sam really didn't believe it. "And go though all the trouble of faking IDs? Please."

Dean stopped and looked at his brother exasperated. "Are you gonna tell me what you're on about or do I have to keep guessing?"

"Sometimes you're too thick to be true. Hunters?"

For a tiny moment it looked like Dean was going to smack his brother for calling him stupid, but obviously the last word had caught his attention. He stared at Sam, brow furrowed, mouth twisting. "Nah," he said. "Hunters? Come on, Sammy, just because… nah!"

Sam just rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, could be, couldn't it? They were asking along the same line of questions we were, and you're the one that's so sure they're no investigators after all."

"If they were hunters we'd heard about them already", Dean concluded. Having reached the Impala he unlocked the door and got in, followed by his brother. "Besides, they're too young."

"They're not much younger than we are. You know how old we were when we started," Sam answered quietly. Then he shrugged. "We could call Bobby or Ellen, ask if they know them."

"And ask them what? A blonde chick and a brunette chick, ever met them?" Shaking his head and smirking, Dean steered the car along the street. "I'm telling you, they're no hunters. And now how about that pizza parlor? I'm hungry like wolf."

Even though he nodded, Sam wasn't as sure about the first thing his brother had said as Dean seemed to be. If he was wrong, if they really weren't hunters, then they might just get in their way like they had done that first evening in their theater, but if they were… the younger Winchester shook his head softly and focused his eyes back onto the road.

xOxOx

TBC – and if you write a few reviews it'll be soon ;)


	3. Chapter 3

Master of Puppets

**Notes: **

Thanks a lot, girl in the forest, for your review :)

I hope the other readers will follow shortly wink wink Yeah I know, I'm being a pain in the butt, but I'd really like to know what you guys think about this story.

**Also, the story is COMPLETE**. I'm only going through each chapter, making some minor corrections here and there and will update frequently. So don't worry that you'll never get to read the ending.

So, be nice, and leave us some feedback, pretty please :)

**Title:** Master of Puppets

**Chapters:** 3 of approx. 6-9; Part I of a series of 5 stories that are supposed to end Season 3 'our way'.

**Master of Puppets – Chapter 3**

After they had eaten they returned to the motel to freshen up. The red Buick had been outside as they both had noticed, so their unwanted companions hadn't checked out yet.

Sam ruffled his hair out of its straightened state, leaving the bathroom to find his brother lounging on his bed. "So what now? The hospital?"

"Yeah", replied Dean, "when Jerry Springer's over." And with that Dean looked back at the TV, grinning as a couple engaged in a violent fist fight in front of the audience.

Sam smirked but didn't join watching. He went over to the window beside the door, pushing the curtain aside just a bit to look out. They'd been here since yesterday evening now, and so far had not much more than vague notions. And it didn't sit all that well with him.

"Oh man, this is priceless", Dean laughed at the TV. "Hey Sam, stop staring out of the window like an old woman and watch this."

He was just about to turn around when his eyes caught a motion on the other side of the L-shaped motel block. The corners of his mouth twitched. "Dean, they're leaving."

"Huh?" His brother turned around to shoot Sam a quizzical look, but then he seemed to realize who Sam was talking about. "Where are they going?"

"I haven't had any visions in quite some time now, remember?" Sam remarked dryly, following the young women's movements with his eyes. "But as for now, just to their car."

Maybe it was because the talk show was interrupted by commercials or because his curiosity got the better of him that Dean finally got up from the bed, joining his brother at the window and looking out. The girls were now again dressed in normal clothing, both jeans and casual jackets, as they got into their car and drove off. "Doesn't look like they checked out yet. Let's go."

Incredulous, Sam stared at his brother. "Go where?"

"Find out what these chicks are doing here", answered Dean, smirking, and opened the door.

"What?" He quickly followed Dean out, trying to keep his voice low. "What the hell are you thinking?"  
"I'm thinking that we've no clue what these girls are doing here. They could be here to sabotage us for all we know. So…" Dean looked around the area to check if they were unobserved before he took his lock picks out of his pocket. "You saw them leaving. Which room was it?"

"I'm not telling you! You can't just break in there on some random idea of yours."

"It's not like we're stealing anything", Dean replied, his voice slightly annoyed but calm enough not to rouse any possible listeners. "Come on, Sam. Or do you want me to break into every single room here? Although, maybe not every room. You were looking that direction, so there are only three possibilities", he added, smirking, pointing his chin into the direction of the three remaining rooms on their right side.

Sometimes his brother was just impossible. With a disbelieving shake of his head Sam relented, pointing at one of the three doors with his chin.

"See? Wasn't that hard", Dean said as he walked over to the right room, again checking if the coast was clear, and then, after a few skillful movements the door clicked open.

Without any other choice left, really, Sam followed his brother to the door he had just opened. He remained at the threshold though, just taking a quick glance inside while Dean walked in. The room looked very much like their own, same furniture, same positions.

Dean turned to stare at Sam, indicating with a quick jerk of his head for him to enter as well. When the door was finally closed, Dean resumed to look around for any items of interest – just what exactly it was that he was looking for Sam didn't know.

"Newspaper", Dean said when he stood beside one of the two beds, moving towards the nightstand and shrugging before his glance fell onto a slightly crumpled t-shirt on the bed. "Oh, Iron Maiden." Another of those impish grins appeared on Dean's features as he picked the t-shirt up, examining it and holding it towards Sam for him to see it. "Which one of the two do you think wears this for sleeping?"

"If you're already in here, do something useful!" Sam replied, his gaze wandering over the newspaper on the nightstand, the bed he was standing next to, and the traveling bag half lying underneath it. "What exactly do you think you'll find here?"

Dean just shrugged and walked over to the closet, opening it to find the pantsuits the girls had worn this morning, neatly put on the hangers. "That's why these things looked better than our suits", he said. Both Dean and Sam never paid too much attention to tidying up their clothes, normally just leaving them in their bags.

The younger brother had to agree with that, taking in the folded pieces of clothing in the bag he was standing next to, tearing his eyes away immediately as he saw what must have been underwear.

He had just opened his mouth to say something as his ears picked up the sound of something he so did not want to hear right now – footsteps from outside.

Dean had obviously heard the same, stopping dead in his tracks, looking over to Sam and listening. And there, just a moment later, they heard soft voices from outside.

"… always forget something, Kat."

"Yeah I know, sorry, but I need my cell."

Staring at each other, eyes wide, both brothers didn't know what to do in the first momentum of shock. Then they both moved at once, heading for the bathroom only to realize that the door had been only half-closed. If they closed it now, it would clearly look suspicious to the girls.

"Get in there!" Dean whispered, shoving Sam into the shower and pulling the curtain shut just in the moment when the door to the motel room was opened.

"Right, I always forget how much you depend on that thing," they now heard the voices clearer, the one of the blonde girl as Sam remembered. He glared hard at his brother, silently saying, _Just for the record, this is entirely your fault!_

"Like you didn't", the brunette replied. "Okay, got it, let's…" The girl was silent for a moment, so was the blonde, until the first spoke up again. "Oh, hang on, let me change this sweatshirt now we're here anyhow."

Sam tried to keep his breathing steady and silent, listening intently to whatever was going on out there. Neither he nor Dean moved, standing close together behind the shower curtain. He just hoped the girls would be gone in a few moments and they could get out of here so he could underline his thought with a smack to Dean's head.

But that would have to wait.

Quicker than either of them had heard it coming the curtain was ripped open, and before Sam even realized what was goingon, he saw Dean being grabbed by the collar of his jacket and pulled out of the shower. Tangled up in the shower curtain he stumbled forward and just managed to roll himself over so he didn't end up flat on the stomach. Instead he was lying on his back, and before Sam could get out of the shower cabin himself, he heard two weapons unbolting. The brunette woman was aiming her pistol straight into Dean's face while the blonde stood behind her_, _gun pointing towards Sam.

Instinctively, his hands were up, adrenaline rushing through him. "Whoa, stop, don't shoot!" the words stumbled out of his mouth, quickly trying to estimate their chances of getting out of here in one piece. Blue eyes stared icily at him, and he didn't quite dare to look away, having the irrational thought that there would indeed be bullets flying if he did.

"No way in hell you are FBI agents."

"Told you so", added the brunette, her eyes fixed on Dean, face full of concentration and anger.

"And you're no PIs." Even though he was lying flat on his back, the brunette's foot on his stomach, Dean just couldn't stop being smart.

"What the frigging hell were you doing in our room? And who are you?"

"Look, we can explain, all right?" Sam tried, his tone, he hoped, calming. "Just put the guns down. Please."

The brunette studied him for a moment, then exchanged a quick glance with the blonde. Both pistols sank and the brunette stepped back from Dean, enabling him to get back to his feet.

"You like to play it rough, don't you?" he asked, rubbing his stomach.

"Shut up. Meggie, check them for guns."

Eyes still fixed on him attentively, the blonde first stepped forward and reached for Sam, jerking up his shirt to take an practiced look at his sides and back, then reached out to Dean to do the same there.

Sam swallowed, his throat a little dry. Good thing they didn't have their guns on them just now.

"That tickles." Dean wore an almost dirty smirk, one eyebrow raised towards the blonde girl.

"You think you're very funny, right?" Instead of the blonde, Meggie (apparently they had give fake names, too), replying to Dean's remark, it was the brunette. Judging from the way she was glaring at Dean it seemed like he should rather not get anywhere near the blonde. "But if you don't want to explain what the hell you were doing in our room,we can always just call the cops."

"And explain to them why you're running around with guns. Oh, and posing as private investigators."

"All right, now stop that," the blonde said now, redirecting their gazes to her. She motioned, gun still in her hand but not aimed anymore, towards the door of the small bath room. "You're the ones breaking into our room, you're answering the questions. Now get out of the bathroom, it's far too cramped in here for any of this."

Both women were keeping a close eye on the brothers as they walked out towards the sleeping area, not daring to sit down somewhere.

"Now, explain", ordered the brunette coolly.

Sam took a deep breath, and his eyes flickering to Dean for a second who returned the gaze. His own suspicion about the young women being some kind of hunters had only hardened with these last few minutes, but still they had to be careful, in case he was wrong.

His eyes fixed on the girls again. "We're trying to find out more about Rupert Newell's murder," he started carefully. "Which I guess you… do as well?"

Both girls nodded.

"Yes, that's why we're here." The brunette's features showed slight confusion as she eyed the two brothers.

A quick glance to Dean told Sam that his brother was pondering the same: If those girls were no private investigators and no police officers either, then why the hell were they here to investigate the case? Except for the one reason Dean had abnegated previously. Mentally Sam shrugged.

"So do you already have any idea what it is you're… hunting?"

The confused look on the brunette's features became more prominent, mirrored by the blonde who looked at her companion and back at the brothers. There was awkward silence for a few seconds, the kind of moment where either all four of them were thinking the same or not.

"You're… hunters?"

Sam sighed in half relief – at least now they did know what they were dealing with. And even though they didn't have all the best experiences in working with other hunters, he just hoped those two weren't anything like Gordon.

His next glance automatically fell on his brother,and he couldn't help that barely audible smug tone in his voice as he said, "Told you so."

The sigh the brunette let out sounded somewhat exasperated. Rolling her eyes she finally let her gun disappear in the waistband of her jeans and slumped down on one of the beds. "And what kind of evil exactly did you suspect us to be when you broke into our room to snoop around our things?" She pointed to the Iron Maiden t-shirt that was now hanging from the side of the bed. Obviously_, _ it had been what had given away their presence away.

"We're sorry, okay?" Sam tried as they really didn't have that much of a satisfying explanation, looking from the brunette to the blonde,who still held her gun loosely in her hand, watching them with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Yeah?" Now the brunette went back to her annoyed attire, arms crossed in front of her chest. "You didn't rummage in my nightstand, did you? Because if you had, I'd have to kill you now." Somehow, even though she couldn't know who of the two had touched her things, her eyes were fixed on Dean.  
"Why?" asked the accused. "What's in there?"

"Don't even think about", she threatened.

"We didn't touch your things," Sam interjected, glaring at Dean. "And we won't. We just wanted to know what we were dealing with, and it was a bad idea coming in here."

"Right about that," the blonde muttered. "So if you're hunters, what are your names?"

"Dean and Sam Winchester", Dean answered. "And I take it, you aren't Claire Dickinson, Bruce's long lost daughter, and – what was it again?"

The brunette, however, didn't seem to feel obliged to answer that question, although she looked slightly surprised that Dean immediately drew the connection to whoever Bruce Dickinson was. Instead,her palm went to her forehead, followed by her fingers running through her chestnut brown hair. "Son of a bitch. Of all hunters out there we have to run into the morons who opened the gates to hell."

"Hey, we didn't open that thing", Dean snapped defensively. "And we already killed half of the things we'd let slip out, plus the demon that would have brought apocalypse over us if we hadn't stopped him. So you should actually get on your knees and thank us."

Laughing out in disbelief, the brunette got up from the bed again. "Are you always such an arrogant dick? If so you better get the hell out of here and let us finish our job."

"Your job? Excuse me, but we were here first."

"Prove it!"

Dean fumbled for his jeans pocket, pulling out the motel receipt. "Here, checked in yesterday at four-twenty-five. When did you two arrive?"

Sam had no idea why exactly Dean and the brunette seemed to dislike each other so much, but clearly there was open animosity right from the start – well except for the time when Dean had checked both girls out at the theater.

"This is ridiculous", answered the brunette then, throwing her hands up in annoyed defeat.

"Yes it is," Sam heard himself agree simultaneously with the blonde.

For a second there was silence hanging between them before the young woman spoke up again. "All right now, you two quit it so that we can figure out what to do." She waved a hand at the brunette in a way of introduction. "Katrina and Megan Farrell."

There was nothing he could do about the immediate, uncomfortable memory knotting in his stomach, and he saw that Dean also broke his glare away from the brunette to look at what was likely her sister, before exchanging a quick glance with his Sam. He really hadn't wanted to be reminded of the last Megan they'd had to deal with. Only having heard the other girl calling her Meggie, he had thought it could be short for Margaret or just plain Meggie, not knowing whether it was spelled with an 'e' or 'a'.  
But Dean didn't let the moment last long, turning his focus back onto the girls, sisters as it seemed. "Never heard of you. How can we know you're no demons who try to get in our way?"

Rolling her eyes, the brunette reached inside her sweatshirt and brought forth a small trinket with the symbol against demon possession. "Should I drink some holy water too so you believe me?"

"Not necessary," Sam shook his head, and he relaxed just a little more. So they were hunters, were not possessed, had heard about what had happened at the gate and hadn't tried to kill him yet. So far so good.

"What about you?" Megan wanted to know, and even though she too looked a little more at ease, she was still eyeing them with a certain amount of caution.

Simultaneously, Sam and Dean reached for the collars of their shirts, pulling them down far enough to reveal the tattoos on their chests, right above the heart. "We thought this is a bit more permanent than an amulet that can come off", Dean added, smirking.

Both pairs of eyebrows went up, and Sam thought he saw the corners of their mouths twitch just a little.

"Impressive. All right," Megan said and only now sat down on her own bed. "So how much did you already find out about this?"

Before any of the brothers could answer, Katrina's head shot sideways to her sister, eyes wide. "You don't actually want to work with them?"

"If they already have something else, there's no need to do the same work twice," Megan just shot back.

"Fine", Katrina sighed and sat back down, this time on one of the chairs by the small table.

Both boys remained standing, and after a short, silent exchange Sam started. "It's really not that we've got much at the moment. I mean you were there this morning. We thought it has something to do with the theater being sold, that someone or something doesn't want that to happen and attacks potential buyers. We've had a similar case with an old hotel. Back then it was a ghost, but no idea what's it this time. McKenzie held something back, but since whatever happened is probably something he can't explain, he doesn't spill it. I guess you're in a better position to tell us if the Sumpters are involved since you talked to them and we didn't."

"Yeah well, Mr. Sumpter didn't really want to talk about it. He seemed pretty upset, naturally", Katrina answered and seemed to let go of her aggressive attitude for the moment. "Whatever it is, I don't think Sumpter is causing it. Our next guess would be the kids."

"No girlfriend?" Dean asked and Katrina answered: "Not that we know of."

"Did you already talk to them, the Kids?"

"No, didn't get the chance," Katrina said, "but that would have been our next step."

"And we were planning on having a look at Newell."

"So why not?" Megan said, brushing some loose strands of hair out of her face. "If we already started we can just as well end this together."

"But we always work alone", Katrina interjected. "And we've done well so far."

"Funny, like I said we've never heard of you."

"Oh just shut up", she snapped at Dean but then she sighed, looking at her sister again. "Fine then. We'll go to their high school and you two can check out Newell's corpse. Less dirty work for us."

"Right…"

For a moment Sam wondered if this really was such a good idea, trying to work with them. Hunters usually did work on their own or at most in pairs that were connected by a deeper bond like family, lovers or at least close friends, not just lose contacts. So he now had one more reason to hope this case would be solved soon, then they could all go their separate ways again.

"Why, too tough for you?" Dean asked, smirking and Katrina shot him an annoyed smile. "Think what you like. Let's go then. School's out in fifteen minutes. We'll just meet you here again in two hours. And knock next time."

Neither of them bothered with an answer this time, they just accompanied the young women outside. They didn't really have to get back to their own room since the IDs and cells were still in their pockets, and since they had left jackets and ties in the Impala before getting something to eat, all they'd have to do was put them on in the car.

As Megan was walking ahead of the rest,Sam could see Dean tilting his head, obviously checking out her ass that – Sam had to admit – didn't look bad at all in the tight, dark blue jeans. Before a smirk could really appear on his features, however, Dean was elbowed in the side by Katrina, who had been walking behind them. "Look at my sister like that again and you're demon food. I know your kind, so back off."

Dean stared at her, mouth open, instinctively rubbing his side although it couldn't really have hurt. "Christ, you're one frustrated chick, aren't you?"

"Whatever."

Sam had to bite his lower lip to keep his grin in check, trying to look innocent.

The girls got to their Buick first, and when Katrina turned on the ignition both boys almost jumped at the sudden noise of Iron Maiden's 'The Nomad', the radio turned up on full volume. Megan obviously was used to that already.

Somehow, a sense of familiarity washed over Sam, and he had to smile a little. Then, however, he raised his hand to smack his brother's head.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" Dean yelled at his brother, glaring daggers at him.

Now Sam did grin. "I swore to myself that I'd do that as soon as we got out of that room. Serves you right."

"They could have been demons for all we knew", Dean retorted in self defense, tone still angered as he fumbled for his car keys and unlocked the Impala.

"You just can't bear the thought that I was right," the younger replied as he let himself fall into the passenger seat, content with himself again. "Besides, you keep smacking me up the head all the time."

"How was I supposed to know that something so absurd was true", he just huffed back, turning on the engine and with it the radio that thankfully wasn't as loud as Katrina's had been.

xOxOx

TBC – and if you write a few reviews it'll be soon ;)


	4. Chapter 4

Master of Puppets

**Notes: **

Thanks again, girl in the forest :) And sorry for not updating yesterday like I said I would. Hope you're still enjoying the story.

**Title:** Master of Puppets

**Chapters:** 4 of approx. 6-9; Part I of a series of 5 stories that are supposed to end Season 3 'our way'.

**Master of Puppets – Chapter 4**

The sun was shining warm for this time of the year, and so it wasn't really unpleasant to sit on a bench near Fayette's high school, waiting for Sumpter's children to exit through the big main doors. Kat and Meggie had a good view on the entrance area, and as soon as they spotted the teenagers they would leave their seats and just walk towards them, pretending to run into them as if by pure coincidence. They liked their work to appear as inconspicuous as possible.

Now, that unfortunately had been sabotaged this morning.

"You're not still fuming, are you?" Kat heard her sister ask, the blonde sitting next to her in a very relaxed manner, eyes closed against the rays of sun on her face.

"Damn right I am. Those morons almost blew our cover. FBI agents? Please. As if the FBI had nothing better to do than investigating minor accidents. I just knew they were lying. And that Dean guy? He's so full of himself." Kat snorted.

"Well those minor accidents led up to a full blown murder." Meggie sighed contently, still not opening her eyes. "Come on, it's not that bad. We'll just do our thing, as usual, let them give us whatever information they get, and when this is solved we'll be out of here. Where's the problem?"

True, Kat had to admit that other than those guys – especially Dean – annoying the hell out of her there was no real problem. They could benefit from whatever information the guys could get, but somehow she wasn't willing to admit that fact to her sister. "What if they screw the whole thing up? I don't know, get caught or something. It'll ruin the work for us as well, because if people get suspicious of them_,_ they'll get suspicious of us too."

Now her sister finally turned her head to give her a look. "Why should they screw up just now? As far as I know they've done this for some time now, and they're neither dead nor locked up."

"Yeah, well, fortune favors fools. And besides, they've let out a couple of thousand demons last summer. So I think it's not completely beside the point to be a bit worried."

"Oh come on, Kat, let's just work with the situation at hand, alright? I don't like you being all grumpy the whole time we're here just because of those two. Because it's me who's got to put up with you, so just stop right here."

"But this is not about you! I'm not angry with you", Kat replied a bit helpless, voice slightly more high-pitched than usual, she noticed. "Remember that demon in Tulsa that almost got you killed, Meggie? It was bigger than anything we've been up against before and we barely made it. Hadn't it been for those two that thing would've never gotten out of hell. I just don't want everything to get messed up because of two silly boys, is all."

Meggie was silent for a moment, then nudged her sister's side just a little. "Don't be like that," she said softly, "we talked about this before. If you want us to take off, then we'll leave and let them solve this. Then we've got them off our backs, that's what you want, isn't it?"

Kat wanted to say yes, but on the other hand she didn't want to back away, didn't want to be the loser who just gave in and let someone else take over. She was way too stubborn for that. "Well, I… I suppose it can't hurt to at least meet with them tonight and see what they've got. Now we're here already and –"

Suddenly, Kat smacked her forehead and groaned.

"What?"

"Motörhead. I should have known", Kat exclaimed, shaking her head while her sister only gave her a funny look.

"The names they used. Kilmister and Wallis? Those were two of the founding members. Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister and I think Larry Wallis. God, I can't believe they're using names of rock musicians as aliases as well."

Kat's sister only smirked at that, shaking her head in amusement, but didn't add anything.

At that moment,they could hear the school bell announcing the end of class. Kat nodded towards the building.

Her sister straightened immediately, following her gaze, eyes darting around for the Sumpter's kids attentively. "Good then. See them already?"

Squinting against the bright light, Kat looked back and forth but then shook her head. "Let's start walking and see if we can run into them." As both girls got up from the bench they started a slow stroll, pretending to just walk around the small town to enjoy the spring weather while in fact there was a purpose beyond every of their moves. Still a few yards away from the school, Kat stopped, a sudden thought back in her mind. "But I'm right about that guy, aren't I? I mean that Dean. He's a jerk, right?"

Meggie just snorted. "You're saying that about, what, eighty percent of the male population? So he's not that much of an exclusion." Then she paused, a thoughtful grin spreading on her face. "Anyway, he's kinda hot. Both are, actually."

"Duhmpf." It was the only reply Kat could offer, along with grimacing slightly and desperately pushing away the thought that, yes, they were kind of hot. If she had met them under other circumstances, Kat might have even tried to hit on either of them (probably Dean), let them buy her a few drinks and then proceed the usual way. She didn't mind much sleeping with jerks, just working with them was a bitch.  
Another thought crossed her mind: the one that maybe they had just started off wrong, a result of unlucky circumstances_,_ and that maybe her judgment had been a bit rash, but then again maybe she was just right.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by Meggie's muttered "Here they come", and automatically_,_ her gaze was directed towards the entrance where she recognized Susana and Lucas Sumpter. "And already both of them, isn't that nice," the blonde added with a small grin. "Come on."

"Let's hope those siblings are a bit more fun to talk to", Kat replied, also smirking.

They pretended to just take a walk, slowly passing the masses of pupils that were glad school was over for today. When the Sumpter kids were close enough_,_ Kat stopped in her tracks, nudging her sister in the side as if she had just noticed to see them.

"Oh, hello there", she called over, wearing a friendly smile and crossing the remaining distance to them. "Aren't you Mr. Sumpter's children? We were at the show last night."

Susana and Lucas exchanged a quick glance, then the girl offered them a smile. "Oh, hi. That's great… we hope you liked it."

"Yes, very much," Meggie returned the smile.

"Oh yeah, it was wonderful", Katrina added with a little more enthusiasm than necessary, but she put her best effort into making it seem genuine. "And you do the show all alone with your dad?"

Susana nodded. "It's family business, you know? We worked with puppets for as long as we can remember, it was only natural for us to work those shows with dad."

Lucas also nodded, but let his sister talk. He seemed to be a rather quiet one, tall, just a little lanky with ginger hair whereas Susana was blond.

From experience_,_ Kat knew that especially the silent kids were more likely to have a secret one couldn't guess at first glance. She'd keep a closer eye on the boy from now on.

"That's so wonderful", she continued, nevertheless cheerful. "It must be like, I don't know, the dream job for any kid. And still pretty cool for almost adults, right?"

Susana laughed, shrugging a little. "It earns money, even though nothing to get rich with. We like what we do, but it remains to be seen if we'll continue with it or not."

"Oh, right." Kat's brow furrowed, and this time the emotion wasn't purely acted. "It would be really sad if you had to close the theater. We'll keep our fingers crossed."

"Thanks," Susana nodded, and now Meggie spoke up again. "Hey, what about a homepage? Do you have one? That could be some publicity, couldn't it?"

The siblings looked at each other again, and now Lucas was the one answering. "Actually we haven't. And with the situation at hand it maybe wouldn't even pay off, we don't have that much to spare."

"Oh, but don't you know that guy from school?" Kat asked her sister, carefully choosing what to say because she didn't want to get the kids' hopes up too high. Luckily, Meggie did in fact know a guy – her ex boyfriend - who was into web design and who might pull up a website for a lot less than usual. "Hey, don't you guys want to sit down? We can grab a coffee over there. My treat."

Lucas took a look at his watch, but Susana already nodded, nudging her brother softly. "Sounds alright… we don't have more than perhaps half an hour though."

"That'll be enough", Kat replied, and the four of them started their way to the coffee shop on the other side of the road. Having ordered their take-away coffees they sat down at one of the tables in front of the café.

"So, about that website", started Lucas. "You know someone who could do that?"

"Well, he was my boyfriend when I still went to school," Meggie started, and Kat remembered Alex, tall, lean, definitely cute but also somewhat nerdy. "I mean, we only have sporadic contact now, but he's quite into web design and all that, and I know he does it for others as well. I could try to talk to him, ask if he'd set up one for you too."

"That would be so cool, thank you", Susana beamed before taking a sip of her coffee.

Kat did hope her expectations weren't in vain. However touching the family's situation was they needed to get to the point now.

"So, you guys been doing this for all your life, right? Sorry, I don't mean to pry, but what about your mom?"

Kat immediately noticed that Lucas' face became blank, and to no surprise it was Susana who answered. "We haven't seen her in years. She left when I was twelve, Lucas ten."

"Oh. Sorry about that." Meggie gave them both a compassionate smile.

Now that bit of information hit Kat, too, and she wondered how a mother could abandon their children. At least this meant that the possibility of their mother's ghost haunting the theater was off the menu. But then who or what else could it be?

"I'm sorry too. But hey, you still have a cool dad. By the way, please tell him sorry for yesterday. I suppose he got something I said wrong. I never meant to upset him by mentioning what… well, what's been going on here lately."

Both Sumpter children nodded slowly, and it seemed that they both were uncomfortable with that topic – unsurprisingly. "I just wish they'd find out already what really happened," Susana said, looking down into her lap. "It doesn't really help to attract an audience, you know?"

"I can imagine", said Kat, keeping an eye on the boy_,_ who so far showed no sign of guilt or any awkwardness that would make him seem suspect. "But the people know that the police dropped the charges against your dad, right? I mean they have to know it was just an accident. And what else could it have been really?"

Over the years of hunting she and Meggie had learned to study peoples' reactions to certain questions, read their features and sense if they were telling the plain truth or not. So now they just had to wait for any hint that might lead them into the right direction.

"We have no clue, really," Susana said, and Lucas added, a little more insistent, "Dad has nothing to do with it, and neither do we. I don't know what anyone gains from those attacks other than to discredit us."

"Hm, yeah." Kat's eyebrows shot up slightly. That was a possibility she hadn't even thought about yet. "Well, I'm sure everything will solve itself sooner or later", she added, trying to cheer the kids up.

Susana managed a smile, nodding, and to help her cheer up the mood Meggie said, "So I guess you happen to have a pen and a piece of paper with you, then I could write down your number or something."

Wordlessly Lucas reached for his bag, and as he passed Meggie the requested items, he even managed a small smile.

"You know what? We could actually come to watch the show again. It was really fun. Maybe you guys could show us around a bit? We'd love to see how everything works with the puppets and all. Would that be possible?" Kat tried to sound genuinely interested and gave the kids a smile.

The Sumpter siblings exchanged a quick glance, Lucas shrugged and Susana nodded at them. "Yes, why not. If you're already doing the web page thing for us, it's the least we can do."

"Perfect," Meggie smiled, just having finished writing down the number Lucas had dictated her.

"Although we can't promise anything", Kat quickly added just in case. She normally had no qualms with lying if it was necessary to proceed with their investigations, but raising false hopes of two teenagers who were in a pretty bad situation was just plain wrong. "But we'll see."

"Well, thanks for trying anyway", Lucas said. "We've got to go now though, I hope you don't mind."  
"No, of course not," Meggie quickly shook her head, giving both of them a smile as they got up. "Thanks so much for the talk."

"Thank you too", Susanna replied, and after a few more goodbyes the two teenagers walked away.

Taking a few steps in the opposite direction, away from the café, Kat looked at her sister. "So, no dead mother. What do you think about the kids?"

Meggie slowly shook her head, expression thoughtful. "I don't think they're responsible for it. I mean, of course I could be wrong, but it just doesn't seem like it to me."

"Same here. And I don't even think they've seen something unusual. They were far too open and honest for that."

Her sister nodded, then her face brightened as she looked back at Kat. "So, back to your new favorite subjects to pick on, right?"

Instinctively, Kat rolled her eyes. "Thanks for reminding me. Do you think they're already done? Or are we gonna have to wait until we hear about two idiots being caught impersonating police men at the morgue?" A slight smirk ran over her features although Kat knew that this image probably wouldn't become real. After all they were no absolute beginners, but playing with the possibility in her mind was fun.

"Does it matter?" Meggie shrugged. "We're meeting back in our room, so we can do whatever we want until they get back. I on my part was speculating on enough time for a nice shower."

Kat sighed but a slight grin curled around the corners of her mouth. "Yeah, you'll probably vanish there for an hour or two. I hope I won't have to pee."

Her sister smirked. "No worries, I'll come out when the boys arrive at the latest."

"What? And wearing nothing but a towel?" Kat asked with a mock scandalized look, suppressing a giggle. "You little slut, you."

"Hey! I didn't say anything about coming out half-naked, I planned on being dressed alright."

Kat just laughed, shaking her head while the sisters walked back to their car. She just hoped that when the brothers came by – after Meggie was showered _and _dressed, of course – they'd bring more results than they had.

xOxOx

TBC

And now I'd really like to read a review by another of the various visitors the reader traffic chart shows me ;)


	5. Chapter 5

Master of Puppets

**Title:** Master of Puppets

**Chapters:** 5 of approx. 7-9; Part I of a series of 5 stories that are supposed to end Season 3 'our way'.

.

**Master of Puppets – Chapter 5**

"Back into the lion's den." Despite the slight smirk curling around Dean's lips his brother only rolled his eyes as the two Winchesters stopped in front of Katrina and Megan's motel room. They were coming right from the hospital where they had in deed been able to get some details on the case – disturbingly weird as they might seem – that would let them get on with solving this whole mystery. After their visit Dean had actually wanted to continue with their investigation, but Sam, good old righteous Sammy, had insisted they'd go back to the motel to inform the two sisters as they had promised. The only stop they had made on the way – and on that Dean had insisted – had been at a drive in to get a few burgers and fries. And he had even been kind enough to think of getting something for the girls as well.

It didn't take long after Dean had knocked for the door being opened, and the two brothers were let in with an ever so polite and sugar sweet: "Gee, there you are already. We'd already hoped you'd left town."

"And let you girls handle this very dangerous job alone? We wouldn't dream of it", Dean replied, tone just as sweat but dripping with venomous sarcasm. "Though I had a hard time convincing Sam here to come back. He's still a bit scared of the two of you."

Dean felt his brother's glare more than he saw it as they went inside and he snickered inwardly. Music was playing in the room, and as he looked around for its source he caught sight of Megan – or Meggie, as he preferred to call her in his mind - on the other side of the room as she straightened from her bag.

In contrast to her sister, the blonde gave them both a smile as she saw them. "Hi."

Kat, on the other hand, leaned against the mini bar of the room, folding her arms in front of her chest. "Okay, as I do hope you found something out, who starts?"

"Ladies first", Dean replied, reaching into the paper bag to grab one of the burgers, then setting it on the table and gesturing for the girls to help themselves.

"Oh thanks." Meggie grinned and immediately came over to sit down, grabbing one of the wrapped burgers. "I'm starving… alright, so nothing much to tell on our part. The kids have nothing to do with it, we're pretty sure of that. They wanna give us a tour though; perhaps we'll find something then."

Only now, Sam pulled one of the other chairs back silently and sat down too. "So neither the kids nor the father?"

Kat shook her head but remained standing at the mini bar for the moment. "We're pretty sure the kids have no idea about any of this. They seemed as helpless as everybody else. As for the father, well, I'm not entirely sure there, but it also didn't seem like he was happy about what's happening. So it must be someone else."

"Ya fooah?" Dean asked with a mouthful of burger that tasted surprisingly delicious.

Kat stared at him, grimacing and shook her head. "God, could you try not eating like a pig that close to my bed?"

"Dean," Sam muttered warningly, and he recognized that look his brother gave him just too well. Nevertheless Dean raised his eyebrows at him – it had been a long time since Sam had said anything about eating habits to him.

He heard Meggie snicker softly. Obviously he was far enough away from her own bed for her to mind him munching his burger delightfully. "What did you two find out?"

Dean sat down on Kat's bed now, shooting her a brief smirk and swallowing his bite of burger before he answered: "Other than that guy's throat being slashed by puppet strings?" He paused for a short moment. "You'll never guess."

"No, we probably won't, so why don't you just cut to the chase?" Kat looked at him, watching the burger in his hand carefully. Dean smirked inwardly and took another big bite.

He saw his brother rolling his eyes briefly before starting to explain. "We talked to one of the nurses, and she said that after McKenzie came in and woke up, he seemed quite confused. She said he muttered something about puppets attacking him." Here he paused as he liked to do at revelations of that sort, and it had about the intended effect. Meggie stopped chewing, and she and Kat exchanged a somewhat surprised glance before the blonde swallowed and sank against the back of her chair with a groan. "Knew it, I always hated puppets. They're downright evil. Right?"

Kat's face twisted slightly, brows raised and the hint of a snort. "Evil puppets then."

"Yeah", Dean replied, finding that bit even somewhat entertaining now. "What would Martha Stuart say?"

"Fuck Martha Stuart." Kat's reply had come almost unintentionally, just like the only possible reaction when you pushed a certain button. For a tiny second, Dean couldn't quite hide the surprised and absolutely not mischievous grin on his features.

Meggie, eyebrows raised, exchanged a glance with Sam. "Do I speak for you too when I say 'huh'?"  
_Oh God, do these kids have no education at all?_

Staring at them incredulously, Dean replied: "Chucky and his bride?" The only surprise was that Kat had asked the very same thing in the same moment. It immediately caused a snicker from both of them, only to be replaced by a somewhat awkward silence afterwards. Dean was pretty sure Katrina was not so fond of the idea of having something in common with him.

"Why're you watching this stuff when real life's actually scarier?" Meggie leaned back, obviously having finished eating. Instead,she looked back and forth between them.

"Because it's fun?" Kat replied helplessly and Dean had to admit that he agreed. Maybe she wasn't that bad after all. And she was kind of hot,to be honest. Probably not the hottest chick he'd ever seen but really not bad.

Another grin appeared on his features,and he laughed out briefly. "You broke my neck, bitch."

Instead of replying to his quote, however, the brunette shot him a half annoyed, half amused look, rolling her eyes before she finally walked over to the table to take one of the remaining burgers. Dean had bought a few extra just in case he'd still be hungry after one.

"Do we have any idea already if they're acting on their own?" the younger of the two sisters wanted to know now, and Sam gave a short shake with his head. "It all started with the first potential buyers of the theater. Could be that the Sumpters wanted to make sure that it's not gonna get bought – but you're saying that they probably don't know what's going on. Could also be that the puppets… I don't know… try to protect their territory or something?"

"Or maybe they just… wanna play?"

For the fraction of a second, there was a smirk curling around Kat's lips at Dean's next quote, but it didn't last long enough to leave an impression. "Could you cut it out already?" she demanded despite the amusement that she was clearly suppressing. Women! Never say or show what they really think.

There were dozens of things he could reply to that, but Dean decided not to rouse any more trouble. Seemed like he was the smarter one after all, wasn't he? Oh yes, he was.

"Well, normally, dead things don't come alive just for the sake of it. There has to be some sort of energy, spirit maybe or…" He looked over to his brother. "Remember the preacher's daughter, Lori? Maybe the kids wished real hard that something would save them from losing their family business", he said, pondering if they might own something that once belonged to a person whose spirit wasn't even connected to the Sumpters or the theater at all but was called on by their need. "Or maybe it's some sort of hoodoo again."

Sam shrugged but seemed to think about it for a moment. "Could be. Bet they didn't want it to work that way." He then looked at the girls. "You said that you'll get a tour there?"

"Yeah, we do," Kat replied before taking another bite of her burger, and it was clear as day that she already sensed that they'd ask to be taken along – and didn't like the idea.

"Great, then you'll introduce the Sumpters to your new best friends that are as interested in the theater as you are. And it wouldn't even be a lie. Sam here's already totally excited about playing with the puppets. Right, Sammy?"

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

There were a few seconds of surprised silence before Meggie laughed out shortly. "Gee, don't you start now, too."

Neither Dean nor Sam replied anything to that, but – even though Sam was glaring slightly – Dean's smirk surely told them that the banter wasn't of the malicious kind.

"So, when are we going?"

Kat gave an exasperated sigh and threw her hands up in the air. "Fine then, come along. But you better not screw this up, or I'll really 'break your neck'."

"I'll be completely safe then," Dean smirked self-contently, and he thought to himself that it was indeed fun just getting that annoyed look on Katrina's face.

xOxOx

"Thanks again for letting us come too," Sam said to Lucas and Susana as they were walking down the corridor between the rows of seats in the theater. The girl waved his words aside with a smile. "It's fine. We couldn't really let you just stand outside, could we?"

"Well, technically you could," said Kat, and something told Sam that she had almost hoped for that to happen, although he didn't sense any hostile attitude towards him from her, only towards his brother. "But thanks", she quickly added, looking over at Dean with a sugar sweet smile on her features that was clearly acted.

Of course, Dean had to react to that. "Yeah, the girls would have missed us too much. Ever since we ran into each other, we've been inseparable. I've never believed in love at first sight, but –"

"So how long has this theatre been in the family?" Meggie interrupted him completely straight-faced, and even though Susana and Lucas seemed a little taken aback for just a second, Sam sighed in relief. As soon as they were out of here,he'd really have to have a word or two with his brother since this was starting to hack him off.

"Since our great-grandfather bought it in the twenties. The business was passed on from generation to generation", Susana explained, and for a second her features seemed troubled. It was clear as day that she worried about losing the theater now. "But the leasehold contract was only for eighty years, so the lot technically belongs to the township again. The building and everything else is ours, but we can't afford to buy the land."

Next to the stage they were walking up a few narrow steps,and Lucas pulled the heavy curtain to the side, leading them behind the stage. Sam looked around with unconcealed interest, putting together what he'd already heard about the accidents – or attacks – with what he now saw.

"Alright, so this is where we climb up and sit during the play," Lucas explained, pointing up towards something like a freely suspended wooden board, the length of the stage and around two or three foot wide above the stage.

"Just good you're not afraid of heights", Dean said, looking up.

"Well, no, we've been up there ever since we were kids", replied Lucas. "And it's pretty safe anyway."

"Since I don't suppose you're too interested in the office – it's only small and stuffed anyway," Susana shrugged her shoulders a little apologetically, "the only thing left to actually show's the puppet room and the stage designs."

"Oh, that's fine, we didn't really expect the Kodak Theater, you know?" Meggie winked, and Sam had to smile.

"I bet it was fun playing with all those puppets when you were children, right?" Kat asked, following the Sumpter kids into the room. It wasn't bigger than a regular living room, packed with shelves and tables full of puppets and props.

"Oh, it still is", Susana replied, smiling as she took a particularly pretty puppet that must have been a princess from the shelves. "This one was actually my favorite, but she hasn't been in a play for quite a while."

"Yeah, yesterday's star, today's welfare recipient", Dean smirked. "Bet she complains a lot."

"Guess she would if puppets actually could talk", replied the girl, setting the princess puppet back onto the shelf, no sign that she understood Dean's words differently than just being a joke.

Sam let his gaze wander over the rows and rows of puppets sitting on the shelves, all imaginable types of characters and clothes. Somehow, though, he did find this a little unnerving, especially after what they'd heard from the nurse.

"So what about that theater superstition, that all puppets have to rest with their faces down?" he asked with a smile more casual than he actually felt.

Lucas raised his eyebrows and shook his head while his sister replied: "I don't know what sense that makes as puppets can't really see anything, but it's never been a custom here. They're puppets, nothing more."

Out of the corner of his eye Sam saw Dean grabbing one of the puppets, a male character with a shiny red cloak. "Nothing more? Now you hurt my feelings", he said in a slightly higher voice, moving the puppet's arms and legs. Suddenly, however, he let the thing drop, wincing. "Ouch", he said, looking down at his finger that was bleeding at the tip.

Confused, both teenagers moved over to him, and Lucas picked the puppet up. "Hm, must have been in a pin in its clothes. Sorry 'bout that."

Automatically,Sam exchanged a glance with his brother who shrugged his shoulders, but Sam knew him well enough to know that Dean was as suspicious of this 'coincidence' as he was.

"Huh. I don't know about you, but I really don't wanna be in here at night," Meggie said lightly, and Sam inwardly agreed without hesitation. She smiled, shrugging her shoulders as the Sumpter kids looked at her questioningly. "I don't know, I guess I'm a little weird at that. It would creep me out a little."

"What?" Now Susana laughed out. "Think the puppets would attack you?"

"Oh well, we've all seen Chucky, I suppose", Kat replied, shrugging as if the whole conversation was purely theoretical, only joking around instead of considering actual options.

"Crappy movie, if you ask me," Lucas half smiled, but turned around now to leave the room. Susana followed him, and so did Dean, already discussing sense and nonsense of movies such as Chucky, Kat following in suit. Meggie was the last to leave before him, and Sam took the opportunity to take another short but closer look around, here and there taking one of the puppets in his hands to see if there was anything else to them. He didn't really expect to find anything that interesting, certainly no knife or something, and he didn't. The voices of the others sounded from outside, and he knew he should go back to them.

The younger Winchester turned towards the door, but as he wanted to leave, his gaze fell on one of the puppets, a green-clothed hunter. Its head was turned right at him, grin on the wooden face still in place – and Sam could have sworn that it had looked straight ahead as they'd come in.

He stared at the puppet for another second, then the soft shudder that ran up his spine finally made him step out, somewhat glad to be able to close the door behind him.

"… have to get ready for the show soon", he heard Susana finish as he was back with the others. "So I hope you don't mind if we kick you out already."

"No, it's fine", Kat replied and was just about to add something as another person walked through a door to their side: Mr. Sumpter.

"Oh, hello." Slightly confused, he looked from his children to the four strangers, his gaze demanding an explanation.

"Hi, dad." Susanna smiled at her father – who in fact was not quite looking like a man who had almost adult children by now. "You remember what I told you about that website? We just gave them a quick tour."

Sam, along with his three companions, gave a polite smile as greeting. "Yes, it was very nice of Susana and Lucas to take us," Meggie nodded.

"Oh, well…" The man scratched his head, looking from the two girls to the boys, and it seemed like he did recognize them, but he didn't say anything. Instead he checked his watch. "Listen, I've got to go. You two can already set up the props for the first act, alright?"

"Sure, dad", Lucas replied, but his sister inquired: "Where are you going?"

"Just some errands, I'll be back in about an hour or something." With that and a final nod towards Sam, Dean,and the two sisters he left through the door he had entered just a minute earlier.

This might just be their chance to check if Sumpter had something to hide that even the kids didn't know of, and one look at Dean's face told Sam that his brother was thinking exactly the same thing.

"Well, then we don't want to keep you from work," he quickly said to Lucas and Susana. "Thanks again for showing us around."

"You're welcome", replied the girl.

"Oh, and we'll keep in touch because of that website", Kat said before the four of them headed towards the exit door. "We'll find our way out."

Having said their goodbyes they returned to the main road, just in time to see Sumpter get into his car and drive off.

"Alright, let's go." Kat was already heading in direction of her red Buick when Dean spoke up. "Oh, no, no, no. We'll take my car."

Rolling her eyes, the brunette turned around and wanted to reply something, but obviously she decided to be the smarter one in this case. "Fine, whatever. Let's hurry up before we lose him."

Wordlessly,the four of them slipped into the Impala, and it took off the second the last door was closed. They had caught up with Sumpter soon, all their eyes fixed on the car now. If he was honest with himself, Sam didn't really believe that they would witness anything that much out of the ordinary since the girls had already said that they believed the man to be innocent of the attacks. But his job had taught him to consider all eventualities.

"Don't get too close, damnit", he heard Katrina mutter on the backseat and saw Dean rolling his eyes.

"Sorry if my driving style doesn't suit you, but I don't want to lose him."

"You won't. Gee, this is a small town with hardly any traffic lights or complicated crossings. The only thing that can happen is that he notices he's being followed."

"Yes, which will happen probably because he hears you two arguing even over there in his car," Sam muttered more to himself, but obviously not all that quietly since he heard Megan's soft laughter from behind him.

"Yeah right", Dean replied, his tone somewhat annoyed. Obviously he decided to drop the discussion, however, and continued to follow the dark blue sedan through the streets of the small town. Soon, Sumpter turned right into a narrow alley between two four-storey office and apartment buildings and Dean slowed down, pulling over towards the sidewalk for them to get a glimpse into the alley. It led to an inner courtyard with parking lots in front of the entrance to one of the surrounding buildings where a tall African American man just emerged through the door, stopping at the foot of the steps, obviously waiting for Sumpter to get out of his car.

The four young people in the car watched curiously, all wondering if this had anything to do with a possible lead on the case at all or if Sumpter really just needed to take care of an everyday errand. Eyes fixed on the man, now approaching Sumpter, Sam and the others continued to watch, but instead of the expected shake of hands for greeting their eyes caught sight of something probably none of them had expected.

"Oh God, I'm gonna be blind."

Sam snorted, but didn't look away from Sumpter who had greeted the other man with a fleeting kiss on the lips. Granted, he hadn't expected that, but leave it to his brother to make such somewhat childish comments.

"Right, like two guys kissing is so horrible," turning briefly to take a look at the backseat, Sam saw Kat rolling her eyes but grinning before reverting her attention back at the two men who were talking now.

"So he's got a lover, but that doesn't change anything, does it?" Meggie, who had one arm and her chin resting on the back of Sam's seat, asked.

"Or maybe it does. Maybe he's the one responsible for Chucky and his killer puppet friends", Dean shrugged as the group watched the two men walk into the building.

"Yeah, always blame the gay guy", Kat snorted.

"I never said that. I'm just saying that Mr. Sumpter's… _boyfriend _might have a motive."

"Yeah, and what was that stupid comment about being blind? You know, I'm pretty sure if you had just seen two girls kissing,you'd bee drooling all over your dashboard."

"Yeah, because two girls kissing are hot."

"And two guys aren't? I think they looked pretty sexy together." Despite the argument Dean and Kat were having, amusement, almost mischief, was audible in Kat's voice when she continued. "Dean, who of the two, you imagine, tops?"

"I don't imagine anything! Christ."

"That's enough!" Sam heard himself all but shout, and he paused, breathing in deeply. "You two are like bickering kindergarten children, this is getting ridiculous! Now could we please focus here, just for some time to get this job done and keep me sane?"

"Gee, dude, chill, I was only kidding", Kat replied calmly, still smirking but looking somewhat caught.

He took another deep breath, and it was calming him considerably now that what he had wanted to say was out. Another glance out of the side window showed him that Sumpter and the other guy were already gone.

"Alright, I guess that's about as interesting as it's gonna get. How about heading back?"

Both Dean and Kat seemed a little caught, intensifying the image of misbehaving children and Sam as the only grown-up person here, except for Meggie.

"That's fine by me", the blonde replied, leaving her sister and Dean no opportunity to add anything.

Hands back on the steering wheel, Dean checked the side mirror for passing cars and drove off with an almost awkward silence hanging in the car. Sam was sure that this was the result of his brother's pride having been hurt. He never backed down from an argument and surely wasn't used to being talked back like that by a girl. Although, on second thought, Cassie had shown kind of a bitchy attitude towards him, but Sam quickly shock off the possible connection between Dean's ex-… well, girlfriend, lover or whatever they had been and Katrina.

"Could anyone turn on some music?" Meggie asked to break the silence and Sam had to force the muscles in his cheeks to refrain from contracting. Somehow this whole situation was really entertaining – on a slightly annoying kind of level.

Before Sam could reach the radio, however, Dean, slapped his brother's fingers and put on a cassette tape, the loud sounds of 'Smoke on the Water' resounding through the car speakers a second later. And when he looked into the rearview mirror, Sam could see that Kat couldn't quite stop herself from nodding her head in rhythm with the music.

xO TBC Ox

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	6. Chapter 6

Master of Puppets

**Notes: **

Thanks again, girl in the forest :) Although I'm starting to consider the option of just sending you everything via mail if nobody else is reading this… wink wink Come on guys, I can see you on the reader traffic thing, you know? Reviews would be nice.

**Title:** Master of Puppets

**Chapters:** 6 of approx. … 8 ? Yeah, probably; Part I of a series of 5 stories that are supposed to end Season 3 'our way'.

**Master of Puppets – Chapter 6**

"Farrell, Farrell… That name rings a bell."

Listening to Bobby on his mobile, Dean ate the last remaining slice of the jumbo pizza he and Sam had picked up on the way. Contrary to the crappy burger at the diner the other day, the pizza was quite good, and so Dean didn't complain that Sam had only eaten three of the eight slices – all the more for him.

"They must be Ryan Farrell's girls. I ran into him and his buddy once. What was his name again? Dave Monroe or Moreno or something. Must've been 15 years ago or so. He lived in New Jersey, mostly hunted in the area around."

Dean nodded even though he knew Bobby couldn't see him. He swallowed his mouthful of pizza before adding a few additional words. "What happened to him?"

"Got himself killed by a werewolf, I've heard. Sometime around eight, maybe years ago. A shame, he seemed like a decent guy and good hunter."

So the sisters must have been teenagers back then, Meggie even a kid, way too young to start hunting by themselves. "Any idea what happened after that?" he asked, taking a large swallow of coke.

"Not really. Ellen just told me some time ago that she met Dave a few years ago. He was hunting down some ghost with a young girl. Could have been one of Ryan Farrell's daughters. But other than that I don't know a thing. So they're hunting together now? Business runs in the family, same as with you boys?"

"Yeah I guess so", Dean replied, looking over to Sam who was still typing something on his laptop. "Well thanks, Bobby."

"Don't mention it. Anything else you need? How's that puppet theater thing going anyway?"

"Ugh, don't ask. We've still got nothing, but we're working on it."

"Okay, if you need anything else just call, alright? And…" There was a hardly audible sigh on the other side of the connection. "About the other thing… I'm still looking. Don't think I forgot about it."

"Hey, no sweat, we've still got time", Dean quickly said, not wanting to go there right now.

_Just don't think about it. _

"Well… take care of yourselves then."

"We always do", he answered, smirking slightly. Having hung up, he put the cell back into his pocket and closed the pizza box before he walked over to his brother.

"What'cha got?"

Sam leaned back in his chair, cracking the knuckles in his long fingers. "Name's Matthew Palmer, born in Winona, Mississippi. He's been working at that company for five years. They import building materials from Europe. Nothing eye-catching about him, just a regular dude with nothing on his record. What did Bobby say?"

"That he ran into the girls' father once. The guy died ten years ago or so. Werewolves. And something about a dude named Dave who was a buddy of their fathers'. Other than that he doesn't know anything about them", Dean explained, sitting down on the chair next to Sam and continuing to drink his coke.

His brother raised his eyebrows, looking at him like he expected more. "And?"

Dean stared at him, puzzled. "And what?"

"About our case?"

For a second, Dean felt somewhat stupid, but he'd be damned to let it show. Instead he just shrugged. "Didn't know anything to help us either. So I guess we've gotta go on looking. You think that Palmer guy could've some dark mojo going on, Hoodoo maybe?"

For a moment Sam looked at him a little helplessly, but then obviously decided to drop it. "Considering that he's a small town African American who grew up in a surrounding where the Voodoo culture was quite popular,he might know something 'bout that, true. But if he's the one doing this… don't know."

"Then let's go and find out. You got his address?" Dean already got up from his seat, looking for his jacket.

"Yeah…" Sam quickly stood up too, shutting his laptop and grabbing the small piece of paper lying in front of it. "We probably should tell the girls."

Letting out an exasperated sigh, face screwed up, Dean turned to look at his brother. "What? Man, come on. We can do this alone."

Sam rolled his eyes, shrugging into his jacket. "Right, but we said that we're gonna solve this together and then go our separate ways. It'd just be fair."

"Fine, whatever", Dean gave in because he knew his brother would start arguing about keeping their promises and all that if he didn't. Seemed like he hardly had any say in things these days.

A few moments later, they were again greeted by Meggie,who looked at the two of them in a much more friendly way than Kat usually did. And she was kind of cute, Dean had to admit. A friendly face, big blue eyes and nice, curly hair. He wouldn't have particularly minded working with the blonde, maybe even asking her out for a drink afterwards and…

"Do you wanna come in?" she interrupted his train of thoughts, looking at them questioningly. "I guess you aren't just dropping by for a chat?"

"Well, no", Sam answered, giving her a smile as he walked though the door. "Actually we wanted to tell you what we found out about Sumpter's boyfriend."

"Oh, you mean Palmer?"

The same look of surprise as on Sam's features was mirrored on Dean's as he looked at Meggie. "Oh, you already got that,too?"

It was then that Dean noticed Katrina's presence as she came out of the bathroom – the door had been open. "Meggie's a smart girl, after all. And unless you already found out if and what spell exactly that guy's picked up at his grandmother's magic shop, I doubt you have more than we got." She walked over to where her sister stood, in front of the two beds, with Sam and Dean standing opposite of them.

"Magic shop?" Dean asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I ran a check on Voodoo in Winona and found out that a certain Louise Palmer used to own a business selling Hoodoo articles and books", Meggie explained, and Dean could see that his brother did look a bit impressed.

"So it does look quite suspicious," the blonde continued. "But we've gotta make sure. Could be a wrong lead altogether."

"Actually,we were on our way to talk to him," Sam answered.

"Ah, I don't doubt he's our guy", Dean said. "He's got guilty plastered all over his forehead."

"Excuse me?" Kat snorted. "Just because he's gay and black? Dude, could you be more racist?"

For a second, Dean was purely surprised about the accusation, and instead of acting defensive and angered he felt his eyes widen slightly and his lips part. "I… I never said it was because…"

"Yeah right. Then why else do you think he's the one doing this?" Kat demanded, arms folded in front of her chest.

"Well, because…" Okay, so maybe Dean hadn't thought this out properly, but he clearly was no racist. The only girl he had gone remotely steady with had been black, for crying out loud! He wasn't going to mention that though.

"Don't worry, Dean," Meggie smirked at that moment, arms crossed in front of her chest. "Kat thinks he's guilty too."

"Treacherous cow", Kat muttered and Dean somehow got the impression the words weren't meant to be more serious than similar names he sometimes called his brother. "Well, whatever. Meggie and I also were on our way to talk to him, and as Dean here was acting so sensitive to a certain circumstance concerning Palmer I'd say we go."

"Ah, that's nice of you", Dean said sarcastically. "But I've no problem with that. We'll go."

"No offense." Why did Dean get the impression that Kat actually did mean to offend him? "But I'd prefer us to handle this. But if we run into a lesbian,you can go and talk to her."

"No, we are going! Sam found out the address, and we only came by to tell you two about our plans because he wouldn't let me go otherwise. So there you go. We informed you,and that's it. We're going."

"Who the hell are you to decide everything, huh?" Kat's voice was slightly raised now as she stared at him out of narrowed, gray-blue eyes.

"Oh, I could ask you the same, missy."

"Don't be all superior like that."

"I'll be superior all I want if you always have to bitch at me for nothing. And now we're going. Period."

"Well, then you'll have to stop us because we're going too."

"Alright, that's it, now shut up!" Meggie's voice rose over theirs and indeed let both their mouths snap close for a moment. "You stay here, we're going. Sam?"

Dean could have sworn he saw his brother having a hard time keeping his grin in check, the corners of his mouth were twitching as he briefly raised his hand. "See ya."

And with that he opened the door, held it for Meggie who was just grabbing her jacket, and then walked out.

"Fucking great", Kat just mumbled and moved over towards her bed while Dean was still staring at the now closed door, incredulously. So Sam had honestly abandoned him here with that beast. He could have let him to be eaten by hellhounds as well, for that matter, and it couldn't have been worse. Or well, maybe a little. Alright, a lot worse, but Dean preferred to exaggerate things concerning a certain brunette who was bending over her traveling bag, firm and well-rounded ass stretching the washed-out denim (nice!) – and hey! Was that a whiskey bottle she just brought forth?

Ignoring Dean's presence completely, she walked over to the small table, sitting down and uncorking the bottle.

Had Dean wanted to just leave only seconds ago,he was now about to change his mind.

"You know, drinking alone isn't healthy", he said smugly, coming a few steps closer and noticing that, now that she had taken off her jeans jacket, her tight shirt read 'Kiss me, I'm Irish'.

Kat just gave a low sigh, muttering "Shut up," but got up from the chair again and walked over to the cupboard beside the fridge to take out two shot glasses. Apparently, the cheap motel didn't have the right vessel for each drink. Pouring some of the honey-gold liquid into each of the glasses,she sat back down, nodding at him and pointing her chin towards the second chair.

"Now that's awfully kind of you. I hadn't expected that", he said, half honest and half mocking, before he emptied the glass in one big gulp. He made a smacking noise, breathing in while he examined the label of the Whiskey bottle. "Bushmills Malt? I've always preferred Scotch to that soft and sweet Irish stuff, but for a chick's drink it's alright, I suppose."

Kat snorted. "Right. The only Scotch whiskey you've had probably is Johnny Walker. Besides, you're drowning it down like tequila anyway. You wouldn't even know good whiskey if it kicked you in the butt."

Dean sniggered inwardly, pouring a second glass full of the liquor but not yet drinking. The unspoken challenge hung between them quite obviously. And like he had predicted, Kat emptied her glass in one gulp as well, refilling it a moment later.

"So, you're Irish, huh?" He asked, gaze lingering on the bright green letters right on her breasts for a little longer than would have been necessary.

"Half. Our mom was a second generation Scottish immigrant. Dad came over from Ireland with his parents when he was nine. So naturally, there was more Irish influence in our childhood than Scottish. You know, St. Patrick's day, folk legends and…" She laid her fingers on top of the bottle. "Whiskey."

Taking a sip from his second glass but not emptying it fully this time, Dean looked at her with slightly raised brows. "What? Your dad gave you whiskey? Weren't you a little young for that when he was still around?"

Now Kat raised her eyebrows, lids slightly narrowed. "How do you know that?"

Dean shrugged. "We did some background research."

The brunette laughed out in disbelief. "What?"

"Well, you don't expect us to just trust the two of you by your good-hearted nature, do you? We're not complete idiots, you know? Besides, how do they say? Know thy enemy."

"And here I thought we were something like allies", she said dryly with a slightly sarcastic but not angered undertone. "Fair enough, I guess. And well, dad talked more about whiskey than letting me try it. Only on special occasions. It was a hobby of his."

For a tiny second, there was a somewhat sad smile on her features, and for a moment not quite as short, Dean felt a small hint of sympathy for the girl, knowing exactly what it was like to lose one's parents. Feeling the strange urge to say something comforting, even though he didn't quite know where the notion had come from, he said: "Bobby, friend of ours, ran into your dad and his buddy once, that's why he could tell us a thing or two about you. Said he was a nice guy."

A slight grin appeared on Kat's lips as she looked up, just having drowned her second glass. "And what a surprise that he raised a spoiled bitch like me, huh?"

"I didn't say that."

"But you were thinking it."

Dean couldn't help but twisting his forehead briefly to that, shoulders shrugging for a fraction. He watched Kat refilling her glass a third time, eying him with that both amused and mischievous expression on her features again. "What, already had enough?"

This time it was Dean who responded to the challenge by swallowing the remaining bit of whiskey in his glass, holding it out for her to give him another refill.

xOxOx

"We'll wait a bit and see if he comes home anytime soon", Sam told Meggie as they got back into Kat's red Buick. Matthew Palmer had not answered the door bell,and they also couldn't see any lights burning in the apartment on the second floor where he lived.

"I hope he won't be too long," the blonde answered as she turned on the radio, grinning a little. "Think it was a good idea to leave them in one room?"

"I hope so", Sam said, a clueless yet amused frown on his features. Then he laughed out a little, eyes averted. "Don't get this wrong, but is your sister always like that?"

"Could ask you the same about Dean." The blonde smiled, sliding down a little in her seat to get a more comfortable position. "She's the best sister in the world, but those two jus seem to clash."

Sam shook his head softly, still amused about the whole situation. "Yeah, seems like it. Which is funny, considering they're not_ that_ different."

"Not at all," Meggie laughed, letting her gaze wander over the street in front of them. "But I guess two people with that kind of temper and character are likely to not get along immediately."

Sam nodded, his fingertips drumming on the side of the passenger door, not knowing what else to add. "I hope Kat won't be mad at you. I'm sure Dean'll be fuming later," he said then, smirking. "But I guess he just left right after we did." Probably watching porn in his motel room, he thought, not mentioning it, though.

The blonde next to him shook her head. "Nah, don't worry. I wouldn't have done it if I thought she'd be really mad at me. It was just necessary to shut them up for once. Any preference for some music?" she asked, reaching for a CD-case.

He pondered for a second, then looked over at the blonde girl. "Hm, maybe something's that's not so… loud?" Or Dean-like, he could have said.

"Does Snow Patrol sound alright to you?" she asked, looking over at him questioningly.

"Yeah, sure", he answered, not minding her choice in music at all. One could, from time to time, listen to stuff that was less than 20 years old. "So, are you two…" he started a little insecurely, "always on the road? Just the two of you?"

Before she answered, Meggie changed the CD and pushed the play-button. "Not always, but mostly. I'm sure you know how it is, you get to know loads of people, but always just fleetingly. And you don't trust too many of them. So, yeah, always just the two of us."

He gave her a brief smile, nodding again but wondering what exactly had made them go hunting. Alright, so their father had been a hunter and was killed by something supernatural, that was one reason to pick of where he had left off. But both Kat and Meggie were still young, and not all hunters out there had started without ever having a regular job, going to college or anything normal of that sort. "So, since when have you two been on the road like this?"

"Since our mom died a couple of years ago," she answered. "She was sick… and, well, I guess as we already knew what was out there, it wasn't that much of a big step 'cause Kat had been hunting since dad died, and I had been on occasional trips with her and Dave before. How about you?"

Sam laughed out softly, looking at his hands in his lap now. "That's kind of a very long story. We've been on the road ever since our mom got killed. Dad taught us everything about hunting, and well, I tried going to college but it didn't exactly work out", he said, not wanting to go into every detail about the circumstances that had caused his final decision. "And after dad died…. We got into quite a bit of trouble here and there. So we wouldn't even be able to go back to what you call a normal life if we wanted to. But what about you? You two aren't wanted for murder and bank robberies, too, are you?" He smiled slightly when he looked back up at her.

She drew both eyebrows up at his words, a half smile on her lips. "You know, one day you have to tell me how all that happened… And you're right, we aren't. I even went to college just before mom died. But after that, there wasn't enough money, Dave was injured, and I just didn't want to leave Kat alone." She shrugged, looking thoughtful. "Perhaps not my idea of a perfect life, but you do what you can, right?"

Sam couldn't do anything but agree. A part of him kind of admired Meggie for her choice. He had made quite a contrary one, back then, when he had decided to go to college instead of continuing hunting with his family. Meggie had left her normal life again just for her sister. He laughed out again softly. "You know, you make it sound like it was an easy thing to do. Dropping out of college to go hunting,I mean."

He saw how her smile widened, but also grew a little melancholy. "Better than if everyone knew how hard it was. Don't you think?"

"Yeah, you're right. You know, sometimes I think maybe there are people who're just meant to do this job. And hey, who can say they ever saw genuine killer puppets and what else we've already come across?" He grinned a bit, trying to see the bright of their situation.

"Yes! We could write books about it, and no one would believe us," Meggie laughed, letting her head sink back against the headrest of her seat.

"Yeah, or a movie script. Dean would probably prefer that", he added, looking over to the girl whose golden blonde curls were falling around her shoulders. "Or a TV show. We're so much better than the X-Files," he laughed.

The smile on her lips was lighting up her whole face, and she already opened her mouth to answer, but then her eyes caught something and she immediately straightened, expression getting somber. "Look… here he comes."

Sam's gaze followed hers,and he saw a tall, black man locking his car and walking over to the entrance of the apartment building. Sam nodded at Meggie, and they both got out of the car, just exchanging a wordless glance before they walked towards Matthew Palmer.

"Sorry… Mr. Palmer? Excuse me?" Meggie called out to him, walking a little quicker than normally.

The guy stopped, looking over his shoulder at them with visible surprise. "Yes?"

Before answering, they both walked over to him, and Meggie offered him her hand.

"Meggie Farrell. I hope we're not disturbing you, we just wanted to know if you had a few minutes."

Brow slightly furrowed but expression not unfriendly he looked at both of them, tilting his head slightly. "What can I do for you?"

Now that part was going to be difficult. Sam and Meggie had previously agreed that they wouldn't assume any false identities this time but were simply heading for the honest truth. Sam tried for a small smile before he answered: "I'm Sam Winchester, and actually, we would like to talk to you about Mr. Sumpter, if you can spare some time for us."

Palmer, who had just taken Meggie's hand, tensed visibly. He quickly glanced around before answering, voice lowered. "Come inside, please."

The two of them followed him through the large entrance door and up the stairs two floors where he unlocked his apartment and led them in. The place seemed very tidy, modern furniture mixed with some African and Creole decorative items, and a huge oil painting of a very beautiful black woman – possibly his grandmother - right above the TV.

"Nice apartment", Sam said good-natured, trying to give the man the feeling that they meant no harm.

"Thanks, but I'm sure you didn't come here for compliments", Palmer said coolly, both posture and tone defensive. Sam knitted his eyebrows.

For a moment, there was an uncomfortable silence before Meggie said, "We're really meaning no offence, sir, we're just asking for your help. We're trying to find out what's happened at the theater those last few weeks, and we were hoping you could perhaps tell us something that might help us."

Palmer looked utterly confused for a moment, but still his eyes were narrowed, features angry. "What the hell is this? Are you trying to blackmail me because you found out about us? And what have the accidents in the theater got to do with it?"

Surprised, Sam immediately drew his hands up. "Oh no, no, sir. We're not trying to blackmail you. And this isn't about… your relationship with Mr. Sumpter, I swear."

"Then how the hell do you know about it anyway? We've kept it secret for so long. And now you two come to my home and ask me about what's going on in the theater. Not even the police came here because nobody knows of me and Patrick."

At that, Sam and Meggie exchanged a half guilty glance, and the young woman sighed. "Look, we're sorry about that. We just saw you together and figured perhaps you know something… because we don't really think that those deaths were accidents."

"And we honestly don't mean to blackmail you or anything", Sam assured, seeing the angered expression fade somewhat on Palmer's features. "If you want to keep this secret, don't worry, we're not gonna tell anyone, I promise."

Matthew Palmer still eyed them with highly visible suspicion but he seemed a bit more relaxed now. "Okay, what exactly are you two on about. That they weren't accidents?"

"Exactly. It's a little complicated," Meggie answered, obviously careful with her words. It wouldn't do to just jump Palmer with accusations now. "The circumstances are quite strange. Did you hear that right after Mr. McKenzie woke up in hospital, he said that he thought he was being attacked by the puppets?"

Palmer snorted slightly and rolled his eyes before he looked both Meggie and Sam up and down. "Okay, who exactly are you? First year college students playing Sherlock Holmes? And about those puppets, I can tell you exactly why the man said that."

Raising his eyebrows and nodding at Matthew Palmer to indicate for him to go on, Sam took one step closer, although he already had a vague idea about what the answer was going to sound like.

"The man got a bump in the head and obviously imagined things. That's why."

"Sir, with all due respect, but we don't think he was imagining things."

Palmer looked at them as if he honestly was not sure whether he had heard correctly. "What's that supposed to mean? That the puppets attacked him for real? You can't be serious."

Meggie exchanged a quick glance with Sam,and he could see on her face what she was thinking. For now, the guy seemed as if he really didn't believe them, as if he never had anything to do with anything supernatural.

"It's not as impossible as you think, I fear", she said.

"Mr. Palmer, your grandmother used to own a magic shop, right? She knew a thing or two about Hoodoo spells, didn't she?"

"Hoodoo?" Either Palmer was genuinely surprised or a very good actor. "Those were silly magic tricks mostly tourists and new age hippies fell for, superstitions and nothing more. There's no such thing as magic."

Meggie sighed. "Did you ever hear your grandmother say so? That this was just hocus-pocus?"

"Listen, Miss… Farrell", Palmer started, tone slightly exasperated. "That knowledge was passed on in my family from generation to generation. It's part of their religion, and my grandmother learned to believe in those things when she was a little child. So no, she never said it was just hocus-pocus, but I had eyes to see for myself. I'm not saying my grandmother was stupid, she wasn't because she grew up differently than my generation did. But if you really believe that I actually bewitched the puppets in the theater to attack people,then I must honestly doubt your sanity."

Sam exchanged another glance with Meggie, and saw that she also didn't really believe that it was Palmer who had brought the puppets to live.

He still thought about what to say, how to solve this somewhat awkward situation, as Meggie, who had let her gaze wander over the big bookshelf to her left, asked, "Mr. Palmer… if you don't believe in Hoodoo then why are you keeping a book about it?"

xOxOx

Whoever said chicks couldn't drink must never have met Katrina Farrell. True, she was drunk, wasted even, but so was Dean.

Holding the last glass half-full of whiskey in his hand he was eyeing Kat, forcing his eyes to stay focused and not to see double, while the girl was still laughing hard over the joke Dean had cracked (Why did the ghost go into a bar? For the boo's). He didn't even know why he had told that silly joke in the first place, it wasn't even that funny, but watching Kat leaning over the table, half propped on one arm, breathing hard with laughter,he couldn't help but joining in – although his amusement was shown by a persisting grin plastered over his face with occasional, hiccupping chuckles.

Gasping for breath, Kat straightened herself again, wiping her eyes and shaking her head, coppery brown strands of long hair falling into her face. Squinting cross-eyed at one strand she blew it away, giggling briefly before she cleared her throat, trying to regain a somewhat controlled posture.

"Oh, oh, I got one!" she announced, clearing her throat again and smirking. "Where does a ghost go on a Saturday night?"

"No idea."

"Anywhere where he can boo-gie." This time, Kat only giggled slightly while Dean rolled his eyes.

"Now that one was lame. I've got a better one, though."

Kat snorted but the sound was free of its usual annoyance. She seemed to be in an especially good mood, thanks to the booze, Dean supposed (and was surprised to find the same effect on himself).

"What cars do ghosts drive?"

Kat looked at him with one raised eyebrow, eyes squinting slightly and shaking her head. "Dunno… Oh wait, don't tell." She screwed up her forehead and bit her lower lip while she seemed to be pondering the joke when suddenly her eyes widened and lit up. "A… BOO-ick?" She immediately burst out into laughter again, and Dean once again noticed that the sound was kind of catching. Loud and even somewhat shrill but not too annoying… or maybe not annoying at all.

Suddenly, however, Kat choked and started coughing loudly. Not wanting her to suffer a horrible death,Dean, the hero he was, got up from his chair and staggered over to the fridge, taking out a bottle of beer as quickly as he could – one for him as well – and opened both of them. Holding one bottle for her to take it, he patted her back twice with his now free hand before he sat back down.

Kat immediately drowned half the bottle in small gulps and then took a few deep breaths, eyes slightly moist and reddened. Then she burped.

Raising both eyebrows and smiling around the bottle neck while he was swallowing down a good part of the beer, Dean put the bottle back on the table noisily, almost letting it slip through his fingers. "Now aren't you a real lady."

After a short 'Oops', Kat laughed again, shaking her head. "What? Jealous 'cause you can't do better?"

Seriously, that girl liked to challenge him, but this time, even though he had lost most of his constraint by now, he didn't answer to it. Instead he just shook his head, taking another large swallow of beer.

"I still can't believe they just left us alone like this."

Kat snorted. "Yeah, damnit. Like misbehaving children that need to be grounded." Obviously Kat realized that what she had said as a joke was pretty close to reality, and there was a hint of slight embarrassment visible on her features. She chuckled briefly and rolled her eyes, raising her beer bottle.

"Well, here's to us, the elder siblings."

"And the only ones with a decent taste in movies", Dean added as he clanged his bottle against hers.

"Damn right. Come on, who doesn't know Child's Play?"

"Obviously, Meggie and Sam."

"They're really missing out then. Chucky's got some kick-ass lines", she said, tone almost regretting.

Dean grinned. "You stupid bitch! You filthy slut! I'll teach you to fuck with me!"

Instead of laughing, Kat grimaced slightly. "Yeah right, looks like you do remember lines like these."

"Oh come on. You recognized the line, so you must've remembered it too. Besides, I don't think you mind too much. I actually think you like me." Despite Dean's self-assured (and completely drunken) grin, Kat laughed out in disbelief.

"You're so full of yourself, you know that? You can't even consider the possibility that not every woman lusts after you the moment she first sees you. And that the only reason a girl endures your presence is because she's drunk." Despite the words coming quickly over her lips her speech was audibly slurred, verifying the statement about her being boozed.

"Oh don't flatter yourself. I don't care what you think about me", Dean replied, tone confident (yet slurred, too), while in fact he had to shake the feeling off that she was right to some extent. But then again, there had hardly been a chick that had been able to resist him.

"Yeah right. But if you don't care,then I can say that I think you're arrogant, vain and… and… now I forgot the word," she choked out before she hiccupped twice in a row. "Oh fuck…" Another hiccup. "This." She drowned the rest of her beer in small swigs and then looked forward with clouded eyes, swaying on her seat slightly and looking annoyed.

"You're one wasted chick, you know that?" he asked instead, noticing that his speech was getting as slurred as hers.

"Yeah right, like you aren't."

"I'm not!" he replied, "A wasted chick."

Rolling her eyes, Kat chuckled. "Well, but you're wasted. I bet I'm not half as drunk as you are."

"And how are you gonna prove your point?"

Kat pondered for a second, brow furrowed again as she pushed a stray strand of her out of her face. "Arm wrestling?"

"Like you'd ever win that", Dean answered with a self-assured tone but inwardly feared that she might even surprise him there. He'd never forgive himself if he lost against a girl!

"Hm, guess you're right", she admitted thankfully, pouting slightly. "I win against Meggie mostly, though. Still, I'm not drunk. Or well, not more than you are", she insisted, seeming to ponder another possibility to prove her statement. "I'd say let's play pool but there's no table here. No dart board either. Handstands?"

"You've gotta be kidding me", Dean answered, looking into her cheerfully grinning face as she got up and walked over to the empty space between entrance door and the beds.

"You're not chickening out, are you?"

Drowning down the remains of the last whiskey in his glass and taking another swig of his beer, Dean walked over to her, feeling the surrounding walls of the motel room rotating slightly. Now that was going to be fun.

"Age before beauty", Kat said,and Dean had no other choice as to follow her order. Concentrating for a second, Dean swung forward onto his palms, the full weight of his body vertically lifted upwards. An instant later his shirt slipped up, or down if you saw it from Kat's perspective, and almost fell over his face. Quickly, before he could lose his balance, Dean let his lower body slide down again and stood on his feet once more, feeling slightly dizzy.

The smirk on Kat's features was mischievous as she eyed him, but something else lit up in her blue-grey eyes that he couldn't quite discern. Pulling her already tight and fitting shirt down a bit, she swung into a handstand and – unlike him – held it up for a couple of seconds, feet straight in the air,before she let them come down again with a little more grace than himself.

"I win", she announced and Dean frowned at her.

"What do you win?"

"I held it longer than you, so I win", she simply said, shrugging her shoulders and already walking back towards the table.

"Hey, not fair, my t-shirt fell over my face. We'll do this again."

A small voice inside his head was trying to tell him that this whole handstand thing was quite childish and stupid, really, but in his drunken state he couldn't care less. Watching Kat sigh but smile, he waited until she was by his side again.

"Alright, we'll do this together. On three."

Dean nodded and quickly tucked his shirt into his jeans, already hearing her counting. On three, they both swung forward, standing on their hands side by side.

"Sweating already?" Kat asked after what seemed like a minute but really had only been a few seconds. In deed Dean's arms were already trembling slightly and he felt his body loosing balance, trying to keep it up by shifting his weight from one hand to the other a bit. He couldn't quite look at her or he'd fall over immediately, but out of the corner of his eye he could see that Kat, too, had a hard time keeping up her balance. He heard her panting slightly and already felt victory so near when a sudden sound at the door startled them both. Crashing forward and both landing on their backs with a loud thud they were hardly able to look up towards the now opened door.

Their siblings were standing there, both watching them with wordless surprise, blinking, as if they didn't know if they were seeing correctly.

"Oh, hey Sammy", Dean said, half grinning, half wincing as he got back up from the floor, rubbing his behind and wincing again, harder this time. "Ow, hope I didn't break my tailbone."

"What were you doing handstands for?" the totally puzzled question came from his brother, followed by Meggie's "Are you drunk?!"

Kat got back up from the floor only a hint more elegantly than Dean had, blinking and squinting. "Drunk? No, we're not drunk", she answered and Dean had to smile about her trying had to suppress her slurred speech.

"Right, we're not. Only she is. And I only joined her doing handstands so she wouldn't feel humiliated tomorrow morning about having done something so silly alone."

"I can't believe it," Meggie mumbled, obviously torn between amused and reproachful. "So now you two get along? Drinking?"

Dean shrugged and was just about to nod when Kat answered: "It's not like we had another choice with you two leaving us alone and him here shamelessly inviting himself for a drink."

And there he had thought they _had_ gotten along a bit better.

"So, how did it go?" Kat added, sitting down on the edge of her bed and swaying slightly, obviously feeling just as dizzy as Dean did.

Sam finally closed the door behind them, and he walked over to the table while Meggie sat down on her own bed.

"Seems like Palmer's not our man," Sam said. "He does have one book about Hoodoo at home, but he doesn't believe in it and just has it because it once belonged to his grandmother. Not even reads in it, he said. And we both believed him."

Dean knitted his eyebrows, looking at both Meggie and Sam in slight surprise. "If he isn't our man,then who is?"

His brother was the one who answered. "You'll never guess."

xOxOx

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

Master of Puppets

**Note: **Thanks, girl in the forest. You're actually the only one I'm posting this for ;) Or well, the reason why I try to post a chapter every other day. I'm really glad you're enjoying this story and am looking forward to your next review :)

**Title:** Master of Puppets

**Chapters:** 7 of 8; Part I of a series of 5 stories that are supposed to end Season 3 'our way'.

.

**Master of Puppets – Chapter ****7 **

After having left her sister alone in the motel room to get showered, Meggie had expected Kat to be ready when she came back half an hour later, arms full of a bag with muffins, candy and two paper cups of coffee. She had some difficulties opening the door with her elbow before closing it with a kick by her foot. Her sight caught the elder Farrell girl lying on her bed again, face buried in the pillows and not giving the slightest sign that she had noticed Meggie's entrance. Leaving the breakfast on the table, she first walked over to the small window beside the door, opening the curtains to let the bright sunlight in. Immediately, Kat, whose face was half turned towards the window, winced and mumbled something under her breath.

"Morning", Meggie said cheerfully. "Didn't you want to take a shower and get ready?"

"I did", Kat replied grumpily, rubbing her forehead as she raised her upper body but letting herself drop down onto the mattress only a second later. She was wearing jeans and, as Meggie could notice, a fresh t-shirt.

"I brought you breakfast."

A muffled sound was heard from the mass of pillows and auburn hair, but no reaction. Obviously, Kat had had one or two whiskies too many last night with Dean, which was no surprise because last time Meggie had seen the bottle, it had been almost full.

"And coffee."

Finally her sister seemed to come back to life, sitting up so quickly that it would have been almost surprising, had Meggie not known Kat's addiction for caffeine.

"Please say it's no decaf", Kat mumbled as she scuffled over to the table, examining the two paper cups and trying to read on which one the right content was marked.

"No, regular with cream and two sugars. The left one."

Kat let herself fall onto the chair at the table, sighing as she reached for the mentioned cup. "You know I'm down to one sugar and skimmed milk." She took a large sip of the beverage anyway.

"Since when?"

"Since I'm fat unlike some other stupid chick whose name I won't mention that can eat and drink whatever she wants and still looks like a bean pole."

Meggie chuckled and sat down as well, opening the brown paper bag and taking one of the muffins to bite into it delightfully before she sipped at her café latte. She wasn't going to comment on her sister's words because she knew Kat was only fishing for compliments, wanting Meggie to tell her that she wasn't fat – which, in fact, she wasn't.

"You know, why do you even drink that much when you always end up with a bad hangover?"

"I don't always end up with a hangover!" Kat exclaimed, her voice lacking its normal strength. "I don't even know why I have one this time. I didn't drink that much."

"'Course not", Meggie replied dryly but smirked inwardly. She opened the bag a little further and held it out to her sister. "Muffin?"

Kat only screwed up her face and raised one hand in protest before she took another large swallow of her coffee.

"I wonder if Dean's having a hangover, too", Meggie said amusedly, not mentioning that he had seemed a little less wasted than her sister last night.

"I hope he's puking his guts out."

"Oh, and here I thought you two had bonded a little last night. You know, drinking together… doing handstands."

Kat's eyes widened, and it almost seemed like she had forgotten about that – probably embarrassing – detail. Instead of adding any further comment about Dean or denying that he and her had actually gotten along she just let her head drop to the surface of the table, sighing a muffled 'Oh God!'.

"Come on, he made a fool of himself just like you did, so you're even, I suppose", Meggie said, trying to cheer her sister up a little. True, it was amusing that she had ended up in yet another slightly embarrassing situation, but she had no one to blame for it but herself. "You know, one of these days,I'm gonna get you a t-shirt that says 'Alcohol is Evil'", she said, nodding towards Kat's shirt and adding. "Are you really gonna wear this today?"

Her sister looked down herself, not really able to read the orange print on dark brown background but knowing that it said "If I had balls they would be bigger than yours."

A slightly more determined, half amused, half angry expression appeared on Kat's features and she nodded. "Yes, I am going to wear this. I'll wear my jacket over it in the theater."

"And you think – what? That Dean's gonna feel offended by it?" Meggie asked, lips curled up to a slight grin, one eyebrow raised.

Kat just shrugged and still seemed very tired. She drowned down almost half of the remaining coffee, but Meggie assumed that it wouldn't really cure any headaches or feeling of exhaustion. She knew she could suggest that Kat drank some water instead and ate something, but she knew better than telling her already grumpy sister what to do. After all, Meggie wasn't the one who had to live through the day with a hangover.

Suddenly, Kat's expression changed somewhat and went from weary to mischievous. "So, since you're nagging me about how I got along with the older brother, how was your evening with the younger one?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Meggie replied a little more quickly and a little more surprised than she would have expected herself to do.

Kat only grinned. "Well, he's cute. And he seems like a decent enough guy, unlike his brother." The way she was always emphasizing how much she hated Dean proved that Kat didn't even mind him that much. She normally didn't talk about people she really hated – or got drunk with them for that matter. "You could have some fun once in a while, you know? You know what they say: if you don't have any sex in two years, it's like being a virgin again."

"I did have sex in the past two years, thank you very much", Meggie answered, tone slightly annoyed but not angry. "And why do you always have to talk about sex? The way you sound one could think that you're the one who's not getting enough."

Kat laughed out but immediately winced, rubbing her temples before taking another sip of coffee.

"I'm not gonna reply to that. But all I'm saying is that…" she shrugged. "Well, he's good-looking, and nice. Or is he maybe… too nice?" A smirk was spread on Kat's lips and Meggie only rolled her eyes at her sister before she bit into her muffin again. She knew perfectly well what Kat was hinting at: that Sam was the type of guy one didn't just use for a one night stand – not that she really was much into that. He was cute, nice, polite and funny – and even well-educated as it seemed. While all of that would have been a reason for any other girl to hit on him, it was all the more reason for Meggie not to. They were going to finish this job – hopefully today, after yesterday's findings – and then leave town, going their separate ways again. So even if she had allowed herself to consider the option that she might like him if she got to know him better,she probably would have decided not to pursue this matter any further for the lack of perspective.

Not wanting to reply anything, Meggie checked her watch and then spoke up again. "We should get ready. Gotta meet them in five minutes."

"Yeah, just change the subject like you always do", Kat sighed ironically and got up from the chair. "I'm just gonna throw in another ten aspirine and I'm ready to go. You think we can get another coffee on the way? And maybe have a shirt made that reads 'If you're not as hung over as I am go F-C-U-K yourself!'"

Meggie just laughed softly and shook her head as she finished her muffin, getting up from the chair as well and wondering if her sister and Dean would be jumping down each other's throats again for the rest of the day.

xOxOx

The sounds of the car engine died down when Dean parked across the street of the theater, pulling the key out of the ignition and getting out of the Impala, followed by Sam and the two girls who had been sitting on the backseat. Glance wandering around the area for a moment, Sam spotted another car parked right in front of the main entrance. Brow twisting he found his brother's gaze and nodded in direction of the vehicle.

"That's not Sumpter's car, is it?" Kat asked and Dean shook his head.

"Not the one he used last time, and he'd be parking at the back entrance, anyway. Makes no sense to leave his car here."

"Seems like he's got a visitor," Meggie said, looking at the car with furrowed eyebrows.

"Assuming that this is not gonna take an interesting, dramatic turn by the mother turning up or something, I'd say you're right," Sam smiled briefly.

"Then we better hurry up", Dean said, already starting towards the entrance.

They weren't surprised to find the doors open, stepping into the small lobby that led to the main hall and on the right to the private and backstage area as well as the office. While they walked towards the office, Sam took a quick look around. It was possible that this visitor might be another one interested in taking over the theatre or the building, and even if that wasn't the case, who knew how dangerous it could get for non-members of the family.

They soon heard low voices in the distance, following them in direction of Mr. Sumpter's office. The door was opened, and so they all peeked around the corner, not minding that the four of them appeared without having announced themselves. Only Kat knocked against the frame of the door as she walked in first. "Hello Mr. Sumpter."

The man immediately got up from his seat, leaving his guest, a half-bald man with glasses, sitting on a chair across the desk. Both of them were eyeing the group with surprise on their features. "My kids aren't back from school yet", Sumpter said, walking towards them with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Oh, but we wanted to talk to you", Dean replied quickly, tone not unfriendly but determined.

"I'm sorry, but as you can see I'm in the middle of an important meeting here. You'll have to come back later."

"It's quite important," Meggie answered, her arms lightly crossed in front of her chest, "and it shouldn't be put off."

The same thought had probably occurred to her as to the others: this did seem like a meeting with another potential buyer.

"Excuse me", now said the half-bald man and also got up from his seat. His tone sounded outraged, already small eyes narrowed behind his round glasses. "I have an appointment here with Mr. Sumpter. You can't just come busting in on us like this."

Sam didn't much like the guy.

"Oh, but I think we can", Dean just said, grabbing Sumpter by the arm, not violently but determined enough to not leave him room to protest while he led him the last remaining distance out of the office and into the hallway.

"What are you doing?" Sumpter demanded.

"If this guy is interested in buying the theater he's in danger like all the others", Dean answered, voice low but vehement. "We know about the book."

For a second there was something like shocked realization visible on Sumpter's features, but then he drew a step back, eying them all with acted surprise and confusion. "I have no idea what the heck you're talking about."

"I'm sure you know just all too well," Sam answered as gentle as possible but as hard as necessary. "And now would be the best time to tell us what exactly you know so we can stop the 'accidents'."

"You're crazy", Sumpter muttered, not sounding very convincing. And he seemed to notice that himself.

"Okay, Mr. Sumpter", Kat started, voice a lot gentler than Sam would have expected it to be – at least judging from the way she always huffed at Dean. "We're just here to help you, alright? We know you lost control over this whole hoodoo thing and probably never wanted anybody to get hurt, but –"

"I really don't know what you're talking about. And now I kindly ask you to leave or I'm calling the police."

"Is there a problem?" The potential buyer now joined the group on the hallway, looking suspiciously from Sumpter to the four hunters. "Did you just mention calling the police, Patrick?" Obviously the man seemed to know Sumpter on a more personal level, but still the cold and insincere smile the theater owner gave his visitor indicated that they weren't on the best of terms.

"It's alright. They were just about to leave."

"Good."

Sam exchanged a brief glance with Dean. Right now it was probably more sensible to make a brief retreat, and they both knew it - as soon as the police got involved, things might just get a little too dangerous for them.

Neither of the four said another word as they walked back towards the exit, but Sam could hear Kat groaning behind him in frustration. "Great, now what?" she asked as soon as they stood outside below the marquee of the entrance again.

"If they get back into the office, we could try to do this on our own without them noticing," Meggie suggested, studying the building. "You said something about a back entrance? Or we could just wait and see if something happens at all."

"It might be too late then", Dean replied, also letting his gaze wander over the sides of the theater.

It was then that Sam noticed a movement out of the corner of his eye, and when he turned to look in the direction he was surprised to find Matthew Palmer walking towards them, head tilted and looking as surprised as they did.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, not unkindly but eyeing them with skepticism, eyes especially lingering on Kat and Dean whom he hadn't met yet.

"Oh, hi." Sam looked at Palmer still surprised. Hadn't they said they kept everything around them as quiet as possible?

"Hi, Mr. Palmer," Meggie now said, having caught his gaze and motioning to their siblings. "This is my sister Kat, and that's Sam's brother Dean. We came because we wanted to ask Mr. Sumpter about the book, but he was in a meeting with what looked like another potential buyer."

Palmer shook his head. "No, that's Larry Quentin from the city administration. They're currently thinking about turning the theater into a youth center ever since nobody wanted to buy the place", he explained. Then he sighed faintly, stepping from one foot onto the other and shaking his head softly. "I still think what you told me yesterday sounds incredibly insane, but…"

"You're worried there might be something to it?" Dean concluded, almost smirking while Palmer sighed again and nodded.

"Patrick kicked you out?"

"Yeah, even though he didn't seem like the connection between the book and the accidents took him by surprise that much," Sam nodded. "He wanted to have none of it, though, even though this might get dangerous again."

This time, Palmer rolled his eyes. "God, he's so unbelievably stubborn sometimes." He looked at some point somewhere in the air, pondering for a moment before he let his gaze wander over all four of them. "Okay, let's get in through the back. If Patrick's still in his office we can go in and access the stage area. What exactly do you need to do?"

"A cleansing ritual", Kat replied and Palmer looked like he still had a hard time believing any of this.

Chuckling briefly but free from real amusement he shook his head again. "I'm sure my grandmother would have liked this. Let's go."

He led them through a small gate at the side of the building into a narrow alley where the garbage cans where located between the side wall of the theater and the building beside it. The alley led to a small parking lot in the back of the theater, probably accessible from the other side of the block, and from there to a back door. Opening it carefully, Palmer stepped into the building, followed by Dean, Sam, Meggie and Kat, who closed the door behind herself, minding not to cause any noise.

"Okay, all four directions, right?" Dean asked his brother. "I'd say we split up."

"Ah, wait," Sam held his brother back. "You know what happened last time we tried this and split up and went alone. Let's just go in groups of two. Besides, we only have two sets of water and herbs."

Dean snorted briefly, but then nodded, probably knowing that his brother was right. Then he looked back and forth between Kat and Meggie, obviously pondering in what constellation they should split up. Groaning, he let his shoulders drop. "Alright, you go with Meggie. We'll start here with the north and west corners."

Kat chuckled briefly, rolling her eyes and folding her arms in front of her chest. "Okay, whatever."

"And where am I going?" Palmer wanted to know.

"You should see to it that Mr. Sumpter doesn't run into us again," Meggie said before Sam had to think about an answer, "if you want to help us."

Palmer nodded. "I'll just keep cave. Good luck, I guess."

Nodding a final time towards Palmer, Kat and Dean, the younger Winchester made his way towards the theater hall with Meggie, hoping that this time everything would go well.

xOxOx

From the back entrance it had only been a few yards to what must be the very north corner of the building, literally a corner because the street the theater was on wasn't completely in a vertical position towards the directions. There was a small niche right behind the door that led to the hallway between office and washrooms, just a perfect position to perform this ritual.

The night before, Sam and Meggie had done some more research on Hoodoo, finding out what was needed to reverse such spells. So far, the ingredients (which luckily could be purchased at any grocery store that had a slightly bigger herbs and wellness products selection) were different than the ones they had used back home in Lawrence with Missouri, but the directions north, west, south and east seemed to be an important aspect to such enchantments.

Taking his rucksack from his shoulder, Dean put it on the floor, searching for the bottle with the cleansing wash they had prepared earlier and handing the jasmine scented, yellow candle to Kat.

"Okay, what exactly do we do now?" she asked, watching him as he uncorked the bottle.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Didn't you pay attention last night?"

The brunette only gave him an annoyed look, shaking her head. "D'uh!"

"Guess you were more wasted than I after all", he just answered, smirking as he sprinkled some of the water onto the floor and wall. "Light the candle."

When she took a lighter out of her jeans pocket, Kat's jacket slid open a bit and Dean was able to read what her t-shirt said, only having been able to see the words 'I had' and 'bigger' earlier.

He chuckled. "You think?"

"Definitely", she answered, giving him a sarcastic smile before she crooked her head, looking at the burning candle in her hand. "What now?"

Dean took another small item out of his rucksack, a bundle of various herbs – he didn't quite remember which ones – that he held into the flame. The scent wasn't all that unpleasant when it started to burn, reminding him of kitchen herbs, crusty roasts and butter-baked potatoes. His stomach growled.

Holding only the darkened twigs in his hand now, he shook the bundle of herbs until the flames went out, threw it onto the floor and stomped on it like one would extinguish a cigarette.

"That's all?" Kat asked a little surprised, eyebrows raised. "No incantations?"

"Nope, that's it. Let's go to the west corner… which would be the puppet room."

Kat let out a small sigh when Dean put his rucksack back on. "Oh yay, that's gonna be fun", she said sarcastically, and Dean couldn't help but agree silently. If the puppets were going to wreak havoc they'd be running right into the center of it.

It wasn't a long way to the backstage area where they had already been with Sumpter's kids. The room didn't look any different than the day before, and it was perfectly quiet in there, no moving puppets that jumped them the second they entered. Nothing off the usual.

It kind of crept Dean out more than running straight into a fight.

They made their way to the far corner of the room, finding a spot behind one of the shelves, between boxes with other props and a big stack of cloth in various colors. Dean was already about to take off his rucksack once again when they suddenly heard steps and voices on the corridor. Quickly he pressed Kat to the wall behind the shelf, standing beside her and making himself as thin as possible while they both listened.

"Shit", she mumbled softly when they recognized the voices: Sumpter and that Quentin guy.

"…. Know why you're showing me this room again, Patrick. I've seen it before."

"Yes, but… you said you wanted to use it as kitchen for the center. I think it's too small for it. And you would have to refurbish it completely. There aren't even water pipes or heating in this room."

They still stood beside the door, far enough from Kat and Dean not to spot them in the only dimly lit room.

"So what? We'll put them in. It's not that much of a problem. Besides, this is the ideal place for a kitchen if the stage area is gonna be the café and bar or the center."

"You're talking about this as if it was already decided. The lease hold still runs until July."

"Because it _is_ already decided, Patrick", Quentin replied arrogantly. "You haven't paid your bills for three months now, and I don't see you being able to anytime soon."

"We did make some profits this month", Sumpter replied. "If you would grant me the possibility to pay my debt of in small installments…"

"Then what? You'd be able to go on until July and then you'd have to hand the theater over anyway. This way I'm offering you a good deal for the building itself, but if you want to wait until the last moment and want to face an execution sale…"

"Larry, you know what this theater means to me… and my kids. Do you really want to put us on the streets?" As crazy as the whole idea about casting a hoodoo spell might have been, Dean even felt somewhat sorry for the man. There was clear desperation audible in his voice, worry not only about his own future but about his children's as well.

"You won't end up on the streets if you sell now", Quentin said coolly. "And I'm sure a man like you can find a new job somewhere."

"Doing what?" Sumpter raised his voice slightly, helplessly throwing his arms into the air. "I've no education other than high school graduation. This is all I ever did my whole life."

"Well, I'm sorry about that, Patrick, but you'll just have to find something new. This is a fast moving world and not the 19th century anymore where you can rely on your parent's success. And I've got to do what's best for the community. We need a youth center, and this is the ideal place. I'm sorry", he repeated without his words sounding honest, "but this is my last word."

Sumpter nodded bitterly. Then he let his gaze wander across the room for an instant, as if he was searching for something.

Dean's eyes widened for a fraction and he found himself looking around, already expecting the puppets to start moving when suddenly they heard other steps on the hallway, then a familiar voice.

"There you are, Patrick. Can I talk to you for a second?"

Sumpter seemed to be caught completely off guard, staring at Matthew Palmer who now stood in the door. "What's with everybody busting in today? And no, you can't. Sorry, but…"

"Patrick", Palmer said softly but with a strong voice that demanded not to be dismissed. "I need to talk to you, now."

"Who is this?" Quentin wanted to know, but Sumpter only gave him a somewhat helpless smile.

"I'll be back in a second." And with that, the owner of the theater left the puppet room to follow Matthew Palmer into the hallway.

Dean and Kat still stood rooted to the spot, hoping Quentin would follow the other two men, but he did no such thing. Instead he walked a few steps towards them, looking at the puppets as if he was seeing garbage, probably already thinking about how to get rid of them.

Suddenly, several things happened at once.

The door to the hallway fell shut and Quentin, startled, spun around. He hadn't seen that right behind him, one of the larger puppets had began to move, leaping onto the man and pushing him to the ground from behind with a strength that seemed ridiculous for such a small thing.

At the same time, other of the puppets on the opposite shelves had begun climbing down from their spots and towards the man who was lying face forward on the ground, screaming with shock and fear.

The scenery looked like a frigging freak show.

Dean decided that he was done hiding, and even though he didn't much like the guy who was currently attacked by crazy puppets, he rushed forward to his aid when suddenly he heard a yelp behind him. Turning around he saw one of the puppets, the frigging princess, having grabbed a piece of cloth and wrapped it around Kat's head. The brunette's features showed beneath the red fabric that seemed to be thick enough for her not to get any more air. Her hands desperately reached for her throat, trying to rip the threatening item off her neck and face but to no avail.

It was only a second when Dean looked from Quentin who was kicking and screaming on the ground and back to Kat, but it seemed like time was running through his hands for him to make a decision that would safe them both – which seemed like a pretty hard task to perform since a Pinocchio puppet had started beating the man on the head with a prop spear.

He didn't hesitate any longer and rushed to Kat's side, grabbing the pink hideousness and throwing her against the next wall. Kat gasped for air when she finally took the fabric off her face, looking at Dean with an expression that, for the first time, seemed honestly grateful about his presence.

"Bitch!" she then said as her eyes found the puppet on the floor.

Dean would have laughed, had not in that moment the ridiculous event occurred that the puppet alligator snapped for his leg, holding it tightly between luckily blunt teeth but still distracting him enough to loose his balance and stagger forward.

Someone was rattling against the door from outside, but it seemed to be locked all of the sudden, and there was still the problem of Quentin screaming for help like a baby and that stupid alligator wrapped around Dean's leg.

"Son of a bitch!" He kicked the thing against the side of one shelf, trying to shake it off, but in the same moment all the puppets in the room seemed to come to life. They didn't even move fast, just slowly walked towards Kat and Dean while others charged for Quentin, some of them with knifes and swords that Dean hoped were as blunt as the alligator's teeth.

"Go on with the ritual", he muttered between gritted teeth and Kat quickly complied, punching a goblin in the face that was about to reach for the rucksack before she could get it.

Dean finally managed to kick the alligator so hard with his other foot that it let go off him, and he leapt forward to Quentin's aid. He pondered reaching for his weapon, but shooting at the puppets when they were so close to the man probably wasn't a very wise idea, so he settled for pulling them off the man's twisting body. And even though new puppets attacked both him and Quentin, he finally managed to get the guy back to his feet.

His glasses broken, hanging slanted from one ear, Quentin stared at Dean completely horrified. His lips moved but there was no sound leaving them.

Dean grabbed him by the elbow and led him to the other door of the puppet room that would bring him straight to the stage – if it wasn't locked.

A quick glance over his shoulder told him that Kat was doing fine, already having lit the candle and now holding the herbs into the flame while she was cussing like a sailor at every puppet that got too close, kicking the green clothed hunter in the groin so hard that even Dean had to wince for a fraction of a second.

Then he opened the door, finally pushing Quentin through it and into safety.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

Dean just heard the creaky rattling of a chain-block and then saw the wooden board from above the stage bolting down towards the man who stood, paralyzed with shock.

xO TBC Ox

Yeah I know, cliffhangers suck ;) But at least it's only that annoying Quentin guy in danger or dead g


	8. Chapter 8

Master of Puppets

**Note: **Thanks, girl in the forest. Glad you're still enjoying the story. And yeah, it was Sumpter all along. Good to know that it wasn't that obvious. I wanted them to be misled and only slowly find out who's responsible for all this.

**Title:** Master of Puppets

**Chapters:** 8 of … well okay, 9. Change of plans g; Part I of a series of 5 stories that are supposed to end Season 3 'our way'.

.

**Master of Puppets – Chapter ****8 **

It was quiet in the theater hall, the dim lights they had lit before just enough to illuminate the far upper left corner of the rows of seats where Sam and Meggie had decided to perform their first half of the ritual. The burning herbs laid a sweet and spicy scent over the hall before Sam put them out with a few drops of the wash water. He nodded towards Meggie who blew out the candle just in the second they heard noises somewhere from the stage.

Shooting around and turned towards the source of the noise, Sam tried to listen more closely and recognized the faint sounds of screams, doors rattling and things bumping together.

Meggie looked at him with slight shock in her eyes, her gaze silently asking whether they should rush to their siblings' aid or go through with the plan. But even before Sam could utter a reply, a door was noisily being pushed open somewhere on the stage.

"That's Quentin", he said, already starting towards the aisle between the seats and down towards the stage when two things happened within only a second: A bursting, rattling noise resounded from the stage where suddenly the board Sumpter and his kids normally sat on to direct the puppets, came rushing down towards Quentin; and then the lights went out, leaving the room to complete darkness. Only a very faint shimmer of light still came from the half-opened door to the puppet room, illuminating nothing but shadowy silhouettes around where Quentin was releasing bloodcurdling screams of pain and fright.

There was no question about going to the washrooms that were located in the east corner of the building and finish that ritual now.

"Come on!" Sam grabbed Meggie's hand, hurrying down the stairs towards the stage as quickly as possible but having to mind his steps, did he not want to fall and pull Meggie with him.

"Kat?" she called out, and there was a hint of desperate worry audible in her voice that Sam could very well comprehend.

They were not even halfway down the rows of seats when suddenly, Sam bumped hard into something where nothing should have been, losing his balance and only barely managing to catch his fall on one of the chairs.

He had lost hold of Meggie's hand.

A sharp pain shot through his left calf the second he heard a startled cry from behind him, drowned by the screams still coming from the stage where God knew what was going on.

"Sam?" he heard his brother call from the stage.

Letting out a groan he got back up to his feet, ignoring the stabbing pain in his leg. "I'm okay!" he called back, looking around to spot any sign of Meggie but seeing nothing in the pitch-black darkness.

A split-second later he felt something touching his back, hurling around but being relived to hear the sound of Meggie's slightly panted breathing. "Sam."

"You alright?" he asked quickly.

"Yeah, but something attacked me… Ow!" He felt her kicking around at something that swooshed past their legs.

Quentin was still screaming in pure agony.

"What's going on there?" Meggie shouted. "Kat?"

"She's okay", Dean replied, voice hoarse with strain while he must be doing something to help Quentin, only that Sam had no idea what. "Go finish the ritual."

He felt Meggie's grip around his wrist, heard her breathing in, and, without seeing it, knew she was looking up in his direction again, asking what to do.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, damnit. Go!" He heard Dean groan with effort as if he was trying to lift something and then grunting out in frustration. "Son of a bitch!"

"Help me! Please help me! Oh God!" Quentin cried out hysterically and Sam knew they had to stop the puppets, did they want to save both him and their siblings who were right in the center of danger.

"Let's go", he said curtly and pulled Meggie towards the upper end of the hall and out into the lobby, back into light.

xOxOx

Dean was breathing hard, trying desperately to lift the goddamn board off Quentin's body, but it wouldn't give. The whole endeavor was only strengthened by some of the ghastly puppets attacking him from behind, tiny wooden hands trying to choke his throat before he had to let go of the board again to rip the figure off of him.

"You okay?" he heard Kat calling from within the puppet room.

"Miss Piggy just tried to choke me. Sure, I'm peachy", he answered ironically while Kat's steppes came closer towards him.

"Give me a hand here?" he called over the noises of Quentin still screaming, wondering if the guy wasn't simply exaggerating a bit. As far as he still had air in his lungs he couldn't be hurt that badly.

Kat must have barely been able to make out his silhouette, as well as the board's, getting on the other side and trying to lift it by the iron railing, but to no avail. The thing was simply too heavy.

"Where are Meggie and Sam?"

"Washrooms, finishing the ritual", he grunted out, attempting another try in vain.

"Please help me, get this thing off of me, please!" Quentin cried.

"We're trying, alright?

"Oh God, my legs hurt. It hurts so much."

"Good, because that means your back isn't broken", Dean just replied while he heard Kat fumbling with something at the side of the stage.

"There's a chain. If we can pull – Ow! Fucking shit!"

The moment he rushed towards her he heard the doors of the theater hall being pushed open, already expecting to see the outlines of Sam and Meggie but spotting two visibly shorter figures.

"Dad?"

_Oh __freaking great!_

"Get out of here!" he called out towards Susanna and who he thought to be Lucas by her side, but even before they could react, the doors swung shut again.

"Get back outside!" he shouted again, tolerating no protest but hearing them rattling against the door that simply wouldn't give. One of the puppets must have blocked it from the outside, hell knew how.

"We can't. The door's locked!" Lucas shouted.

"What's going on here?" Susanna wanted to know. Then she screamed with terror.

xOxOx

The second they had extinguished the candle, Sam and Meggie heard a female scream coming from the theater hall that they knew wasn't Kat's.

Staring at each other in surprise for a second they both hurried towards the door of the lady's washroom.

"Please let that not be Sumpter's kids", Meggie murmured, checking her watch as they went. "School's out. They must've come in while we went to the washroom."

"But it should be over now, right? We've finished the ritual", Sam said as they both stood on the hallway, pondering for a moment which way to go.

Meggie looked at him, brow twisted above her blue eyes, shrugging softly and looking clueless. "It should."

They just headed towards the lobby and the main entrance of the theater hall when they heard footsteps behind them and then a male voice. "We can't get in anywhere!" Palmer.

"Good, just stay in your office where it's safe", Sam called over his shoulder, seeing that both Palmer and Sumpter were still following them.

The moment he and Meggie reached the door, trying to open it, they noticed it was tightly shut.

"Oh God", he heard Sumpter moan out, and then another scream resounded from within the theater.

"Susie? Susanna?" Fierce fright suddenly shook Sumpter and he pulled the door handle, trying to open it but failing. "Susie?!"

"Dad!" came the faint reply from inside, accompanied by low screams somewhere further away that must belong to Quentin. So at least he was still alive.

Sam pushed Sumpter away from the door gently enough but determined before he started to slam his full weight against the wooden surface. But it wouldn't give, even not after his shoulder already hurt like hell and he knew he would be bruised all over.

"Dad? What's happening?" another voice sounded from inside and the man was already close to tears as his palm rested against the door, as if he could get closer to his children that way.

"Is there another way into the theater?" Meggie asked quickly.

Palmer, who stood behind Sumpter, one hand resting on his shoulder in a calming gesture but looking quite freaked out himself, shook his head. "Only through the puppet room and another side door. They're both blocked."

Sam gritted his teeth, suppressing a frustrated sigh and pondering what to do. Why the hell the ritual hadn't worked he had no clue, but either way, they had to get the others out of the theater before it was too late.

Finally turning towards Sumpter who was still limply leaning against the door, shock and fear written all over his face, he reached for his shoulders, urging the man to look at him. "Tell us exactly what you did, Mr. Sumpter. We've got to stop this somehow."

The man shook his head softly, tears in his eyes and a look so full of guilt that Sam really felt sorry for him. "There… there's a sigil. It was in the book. I… I didn't know what it would do, I swear! I never wanted any of this to happen."

"Where is it?" Sam asked, tone sensitive but resolute.

"In the basement… below the stage."

"Okay, Mr. Sumpter, you have to get us there", he ordered, hoping that the access to the basement, at least, wasn't blocked as well.

xOxOx

Dean frantically looked back and forth between the direction he heard Sumpter's kids and Quentin on the ground, once more wondering what to do first. "What's happening up there?" he called out towards the kids.

"I don't know", he heard Susanna's tearful reply. "Something hit me. There's… God what is this? Are those animals?"

"No", Dean just replied while he still heard Kat trying to pull up the chain of the board.

"I can't turn the handle, it's fixed somewhere", she groaned.

Dean finally decided that, Quentin be damned, he'd have to look after the kids first before something serious could happen to them. He was just about to leap forward when something tackled him from behind and he fell face forward onto the stage, feeling the dull pain of something hard banging against his head.

He tried to toss around to shake the attacker off that persistently kept drumming a hard item against his skull. Not much longer and he'd lose consciousness if he couldn't find a way to get rid of the puppet. If only those damn things weren't so small and nimble.

He finally staggered to his feet, seeing the faint light of the puppet room beside him and having the life-saving idea in mind. With one big step he pushed his body backwards, banging the puppet that was wrapped around his neck and shoulders against the wall. He already felt it loosing its grip and balance when suddenly, something between his feet made him stumble to the side, into the doorway to the puppet room. This time, however, he landed on his side, able to roll himself away from the attacker and then, as he shook himself free of any oncoming dizziness, recognized who had maltreated him all along. The fucking princess!

"I think I got it!" Kat shouted at the same time Lucas let out a startled yelp.

Quentin was only whimpering in pain now.

The pink puppet, however, got back to her feet, looking at Dean with her ridiculously smile as she held a small paint can in her hand, hauling out to smash it into his face.

xOxOx

The sounds from the theater were only audible as a dull, chaotic mixture of shouts, rattling and hitting in the dark basement below the stage area. Luckily, the door had been open, leaving Sam to guess that the puppets had only blocked any possible entrances to the theater itself so they could wreak havoc in there without being disturbed.

Sumpter quickly led them through a narrow hallway between a niche with electrical fittings and another door that read 'boiler room' through an entrance at the very end of the basement. As soon as Sumpter had switched the light on, Sam spotted a huge red circle on the concrete floor, strange symbols in its midst that he hadn't seen before.

"This is all you did?" Meggie asked, making sure that this really was the last part of the spell they had to destroy.

Sumpter nodded faintly and again his eyes seemed to beg for forgiveness, worry about his children written in them.

"It said this was a spell to fend off anybody who wants to harm your house. I didn't know what it would really do."

"It's okay", Sam answered quickly, knowing there was no time now to ease the man's conscience. He was somehow glad, however, to observe that Matthew Palmer had already taken over that part, standing half behind Sumpter again, one hand on his upper arm in a soothing gesture, compassion written on his features.

"Okay, so now what?" Meggie asked. "We wash this off? What is it anyway?" She had bent down, her fingers briefly running through what looked like dark red paint.

Sumpter swallowed faintly. "Chicken blood."

Immediately, Meggie grimaced slightly and wiped her fingers on her jeans.

Sam was already looking for a water tap, about to ask Sumpter where they could find anything to clean the floor, when Palmer spoke up.

"Um… I don't think washing it off will be enough."

Brow furrowed slightly, Sam looked at him, his gaze indicating for him to elaborate.

"It's blood magic, which means that it's permanent unless it's being magically cleansed. The only thing that can reverse blood magic is fire."

"Didn't you say you don't believe in hoodoo and never even read your book?" Sam asked, still a little surprised about the sudden information.

Palmer chuckled ironically. "My grandmother taught me the one or other thing when I was a kid, if I believed in it or not. That's what I remember."

"Do you have any fuel or oil here?" Meggie asked then, obviously thinking the same as Sam.

"There's a canister in the boiler room", Sumpter answered, his voice never having gotten back its strength, shock still present in his posture and features.

Sam nodded towards Meggie just before she left the room and then turned towards Palmer again. "Anything else we need to do?"

Above them, the wooden ceiling creaked dangerously.

xOxOx

Dean's back hit the floor painfully, and he had to blink for a second when all air seemed to be pushed out of his lungs. How the hell an approximately twenty inch puppet got so strong that it send him flying to the ground he had no idea, only knowing that this was simply ridiculous!

Despite the seeming hilarity of the situation, the grip of the princess' hands around his neck was threateningly hard when she jumped onto his chest, pink veil in her blonde hair tickling his nose to add to the annoyance of being choked by a frigging puppet!

Behind him, Kat was groaning with each pull on the heavy chain, and even though he couldn't turn to look it sounded like the board was finally lifted from Quentin's body who had now started to whimper softly instead of screaming. At least one improvement of the whole situation.

"Let go of me!" Susanna bellowed in the back, and he heard the sound of something flying into a wall. At least the kids seemed alright enough to fight off their attackers.

His throat felt sore already as he pulled and ripped at the thing on top of him that just wouldn't give in.

The chains of the board rattled and something creaked in the floor boards of the stage.

Finally, Dean's hand got a tight grip on the small puppet, straight around her stupidly grinning face. Just good she wasn't talking too. Rolling around, he was half above the thing, pinning it down with his weight before, with a violent and quick movement, he twisted the puppet's head around, hearing the relieving sound of wood cracking and seeing her head bop to the side by only a thin strip of cloth.

Breathing out with exhaustion, he felt a grin spreading on his lips. "I broke your neck, bitch!"

xOxOx

Sam took out the lighter from his jeans pocket, bending down towards the fuel-soaked symbol on the floor and bringing the flame to it. As soon as the fire spread around the whole circle, he took a step back, watching as the flames changed from a warm orange-red to a cool green all of the sudden.

Sumpter gasped slightly, and Sam too would have found this weird, had he not seen enough strange things in his life.

The flames danced higher, getting much bigger than he would have expected, and he instinctively shielded Meggie with his body, seeing out of the corner of his eyes that Palmer did the same with Sumpter, both men standing as far as possible against the wall and away from the flames.

Sam hoped, mentally crossing his fingers, that this was going to work. So far the sounds from above hadn't died down yet.

xOxOx

Getting back to his feet, Dean rushed to Kat's side, and they were pulling on the chain together, finally lifting the board high enough for Quentin to go completely free. Then Kat fixed it back on the hanger while Dean leapt forward to pull the whimpering mess of a man out from underneath the heavy board.

Quentin winced and cried out in pain when he was being pulled away, but Dean didn't have time to pay attention to that. He suddenly saw a giant puppet, literally a giant, running through the door of the puppet room, a huge club in hands that he aimed straight at Kat's head.

"Kat, watch out!" Dean yelled, alarmed, letting go of Quentin who dropped back to the ground with a yelp.

It seemed to Dean like things were suddenly going in slow motion, the brunette turning around to look at him, still not seeing the puppet and the possibly very dangerous attack; him hurrying forward to tackle the thing before it could strike its blow.

If only he had seen the stupid alligator tripping him up.

xOxOx

The flames rose a final time, so high that they reached the ceiling and Sam already worried they might burn through the stage. Then, they died down so suddenly that it almost startled him, leaving nothing but a faint greenish-reddish glow in what seemed like completely darkness compared to the bright fire before.

Blinking the light spots in front of his eyes away, Sam looked around. Everyone seemed fine, but all of them had their heads raised, listening into the distance. The sounds above them were gone.

"You think it worked?" Meggie asked.

"I hope so."

Before Sam could say anything further, Sumpter let out a low gasp, rushed through the door of the room and out of the basement, followed by the other three of them.

"Susanna? Lucas?" he called out while he ran, up the stairs and to the back entrance of the puppet room.

Sure, Sam hadn't expected the place to look as tidy as it had the last time he had seen it, but what his eyes spotted then made his forehead twist, eyes widening slightly. There were puppets all over the floor, none of them on their shelves anymore, plastering the ground like a giant stack of bodies that made it harder to get through and to the stage door. Sumpter was still the first to make his way through, and when Sam and Meggie followed they saw the lights back up in the theater, revealing more chaos.

The whole stage board had come down, tangling up on one side by a chain, behind it a hardly conscious Quentin who was whimpering, gripping his legs with both hands and murmuring confused words of shock. Other puppets lay on the ground, some of them all the way up to the seats in the back of the theater where Susanna and Lucas stood, breathing hard.

"Dad!" they both shouted at once, running towards their father who met them in the middle, arms wrapped around them the instant he got to them.

A muffled groan led Sam's and Meggie's gazes to the right and both their eyebrows shot up in the same moment when they spotted Kat lying flat on her back, Dean on top of her, face buried somewhere between her breasts.

"Get off me!" the brunette huffed, pushing Dean aside and scrambling to her feet while Dean shook himself, also getting up. There was a hint of a dirty smirk on his features when he looked at her.

"You're welcome."

Sam only shook his head with a faint, relieved chuckle, breathing in deeply for the very first time in a long while. Seemed like everything was back to normal.

xO TBC Ox

Okay, as this part of the showdown already got quite long I decided to split the final chapter into two parts. There's one more following after this.


	9. Chapter 9

Master of Puppets

Thanks, girl in the forest. I'm glad that you liked all those small details. I think a good action scene doesn't work out without them… I was rather uncertain about the whole thing because I've never really written real fight scenes and all that (okay, a few maybe but they were shorter). Glad to see that it worked out well.

So here's the final chapter. I'll start posting the second story soon.

**Title:** Master of Puppets

**Chapters:** 9 of 9. Part I of a series of 5 stories that are supposed to end Season 3 'our way'.

.

**Master of Puppets – Chapter ****9 **

The sounds of the ambulance came closer although Dean still thought Quentin could very well have been driven to the hospital, not being severely injured other than having some bruises and maybe a partly fractured shin. He had insisted, however, to be taken out of the theater, probably too freaked out to stay there any much longer.

Sumpter was standing a few steps away with his children, Palmer close by but not interrupting the family in whatever they were talking about while Dean, Sam and the two girls stood in front of the main entrance right beside Quentin sitting on the ground who now took his cell phone out of the pocket of his jacket.

"Who are you calling?" Kat wanted to know and the man only glared at her.

"The police of course!"

Dean blinked feeling the urge to bang his head against the next best wall. Then, however, he bent forward, close to the man's face and started, voice calm but slightly threatening:

"Listen, _buddy_. We just saved your sorry ass, so you should show a little gratitude over that. Besides, telling the police you were attacked by Kermit and his gang only is a good idea if you wanna end up in a padded cell. So I suggest you put that thing back into your pocket and think about what you're actually doing by ruining that man's and his children's lives." He was already about to get back up, when another thought crossed his mind. "Unless…. You want me to shove you back in there and renew that hoodoo spell so those puppets do you in for real."

"Dean." His brother's tone obviously tried to calm him, but Dean gave the man a final glare, telling him that he was serious – at least about the part where Quentin should think his decisions over.

When the ambulance stopped in front of the theater, however, Dean had already drawn back, stepping a few steps aside and deciding that he didn't want to waste any more energy on the guy. Instead, he and the other three made their way towards Sumpter, slowly, to see if the owner of the theater was alright with them being around. A thankful smile indicated that he was.

"Thank you", he said to all of them, letting go of Susanna and Lucas whom he had held in his arms, glad to be reunited with his children unharmed. There was still worry written all over his features, however; that and guilt as his gaze wandered towards Quentin and the paramedics who immediately helped the man on a stretcher, examining him.

"What happened to you, sir?"

"The…" Everyone seemed to hold their breath, waiting what Quentin would give as an answer. Dean was surprised when the man finally replied. "The wood board above the stage came down. It was my fault, I accidentally unfastened the chain."

The relieved and grateful expression on Sumpter's features lit up even more as he looked at the four hunters with a slight smile that was no longer shadowed by the full extent of worry it had shown earlier.

"Do you… do you think he'll let you keep the theater?" Sam asked now, and Sumpter faintly shrugged. "I don't know. Not if I can't pay the lease for the lot."

It was only then that Palmer crossed the distance to them, sighing as he came closer. "Patrick, I told you a dozen times that I'll lend you the money."

Sumpter's eyes widened for the fraction of a second as he looked from his boyfriend to his children who showed nothing but surprised confusions on their faces. Dean wondered if they had ever even met the guy before.

"I don't know", he said then. "Even if you give me the rent for the last three months, I don't know if the theater will ever pay off enough to go on. I don't even know if the puppets are still any use."

"We can fix them", Susanna said quickly, although she still seemed to wonder who the stranger was that offered them their help. "They didn't look that bad, and we only need half of them anyway."

Dean grimaced slightly. "Well, as long as you don't need the princess puppet anymore…"

Both children smiled now, and Lucas shrugged. "I never really liked her much. Pink is out of fashion anyway."

Dean wanted to add that he thought pink was downright evil, but he refrained from making any such comments, not wanting to admit that he had spent most of the time in there fighting with a fucking giant Barbie-wannabe.

There was new hope on Sumpter's features and he smiled again faintly, throwing a brief glance at Palmer who nodded barely visible as if to say that he too thought they could make it work. And no, Dean was clearly not touched by this display of family and lover affection as well as a perfect outcome of a miserable situation. No.

Instead, he looked over to his brother, who stood between Meggie and Kat, when suddenly the blonde girl's eyes were fixed on Sam's leg.

"Oh my God, what's that?" she asked, and when Dean's gaze followed her as she bent down and reached for his brother's calf he could see a ripped hole in the fabric of his blood-soaked jean leg.

Sam shrugged, though. "It's nothing. It already stopped bleeding. Don't worry."

Now wasn't he heroic? Dean's baby brother playing the tough guy in front of a chick – that apparently really seemed to care.

Clearing his throat he looked around, pondering about something manly he could say but coming up with nothing that didn't involve the still highly amusing event of him having fallen face forward between Kat's breasts. He wondered if that was the reason why the brunette wasn't looking at him anymore.

"Why don't you go inside", Sumpter then said to his kids. "Get cleaned up, and I'll be with you in a minute."

Both teenagers looked at the four hunters, probably wondering if this was the last time they'd see them.

"Thank you guys", Lucas started, and Susanna added with a slight smirk: "Yeah, thanks. Without you we'd be puppet food."

Then she looked at Dean, obviously having seen him talking to Quentin. "And thank you for… well, in case it worked."

"No problem", he answered, smiling. "Take care of yourselves alright."

"You too", the girl replied to them all, waving a final time before she and her brother went back into the theater.

Dean wondered for a second how they could be so brave to go back in there without being completely freaked out – and be willing to go on working with the puppets, as it was.

"I guess you'll want to go home… or to your motel at least", Sumpter started. "But I really wanted to say thank you again. I don't know what I would have done without you. Sorry for being so harsh earlier."

"It's okay, Mr. Sumpter", Meggie said softly, giving him a smile that was almost completely mirrored on Sam's features. "You're welcome."

When he looked at Palmer, however, it was clear that something else was troubling the man, and Dean could clearly guess what it was. "You should go, too", Sumpter said, and it wasn't hard to observe that there was a hint of hurt on the other man's features.

Palmer sighed faintly and shrugged. "Yes, alright."

Dean really didn't know what got into him that moment, least of all why it was him of all people who said something and not his brother who normally seemed to be good with all the touchy-feely talking crap, but the words came over his mouth before he could even stop himself.

"Don't you think it's enough with playing hide and seek?" It wasn't only Sumpter who started at Dean in surprise in that moment, and he simply decided to fade out the curious look his brother was giving him. "I mean, man, those are your children and they totally adore you." He shrugged, suddenly determined to go through with what he had started. "You practically endangered their lives and they didn't even blame you for it. Don't you think that…. Um…" He made a waving gesture with his hand, eyes averted. "Well… this is peanuts compared to dark hoodoo and killer puppets?"

Besides, Dean would be pretty pissed if his boy-, well okay, in his case it could only be a girlfriend – wouldn't stand by him after he'd saved his – her – life. Man, putting himself in Palmer's shoes was kind of disturbing.

"I think my brother's right", Sam now spoke up. "You're family, after all, right? And no matter what happens that'll never change."

"Got a confession to make, Sammy?" Dean asked jokingly and watched his brother's eyebrows twist as his head shot around to look at him.

"What? No!"

Palmer laughed.

"What they're trying to say", Kat butted in now, smirking slightly. "Is that there are really worse things than admitting to your kids that you are gay. They're old enough to understand these things."

Sumpter still didn't seem to be fully convinced, and maybe these things just needed some time, but there was a trace of him heading in the right direction when he looked back at Palmer, saying. "Do you wanna come back in… and help us tidy up that mess?"

A smile lit up the other man's face, making the whole scenery so ridiculously touching that Dean felt like puking – or at least he told himself that. Palmer nodded, placing his hand on Sumpter's shoulder briefly but then nodding in direction of the paramedics, who had now finished doing the first examination and pushing the stretcher into the ambulance, heading towards the other six.

"I guess I'll have to talk to them. If you want to come back later… inviting you for dinner is the least thing I could do."

"Thanks, Mr. Sumpter, but I think we'll be leaving", Sam replied, and Dean wondered if the tradition to hit the road every time a job was finished should be held on to. Somehow dinner had sounded good, but they could grab something from a take away somewhere.

"Well, if that's your last word… Thank you again. If you ever come to Fayette again…"

"We'll pay you a visit and see how the theater is going", Meggie finished, smiling.

"Oh, and tell your kids we'll send them the email address of our friend", Kat added, leaving Dean to wonder what she was talking about, same as Sumpter.

And then, with a few last words of good bye, the four of them headed towards the Impala.

When they reached the motel and got out of Dean's car, standing on the parking lot for a moment, there was an awkward sense of regret to have to say goodbye to the sisters – especially when Dean looked at Meggie and Sam. He didn't much care to never see Kat again. Alright, okay, so she wasn't that horrible, but he didn't give a damn whether he'd see her again or not, right?

"So, that's it, I guess", Meggie laughed out briefly, her hands in the back pockets of her jeans as she looked from Dean to Sam.

"Yeah, I guess", he replied, also looking so typically Sammy-like shy that Dean couldn't help but aww-ing inside.

"But I've got your number… in case we need help some time", Meggie added and Sam nodded.

"Yeah, we'll call you", Kat said, and the mischievous smirk on her features indicated nothing good. "In case I feel like being molested in the middle of a fight again."

"Hey, I saved your ass back in there. Besides, I think you secretly liked it", he replied smugly, seeing how she only rolled her eyes.

"Right. Anyway guys, can't say that it's been fun getting into a Muppet freak show but other than that…" It probably was as nice as she could get. "Take care."

"You too", Sam replied, letting out a brief chuckle but then looking at Meggie again as if he wanted to add something but coming up with nothing.

Kat waved at them a final time and then headed towards the Buick. Both the brothers and the sisters had already checked out and packed their things when they had left this morning, just having to get back into their cars now and drive off.

And so, after a final glance at the sisters, Sam followed Dean and got back into the Impala, where Dean changed the cassette in his tape deck, grinning as the first sounds of 'Born to be Wild' resounded through the car.

Sam only shook his head but grinned while the motel got smaller in the rear view mirror.

And they were on the road once more.

**xOx The End xOx **

So, that's it. Hoped you liked it.

And as for you other lurkers, I'd really appreciate if you could tell me what you thought. Both praise and criticism is welcome, of course :)

And… stay tuned for my next _Supernatural_ fanfiction **Killing in the Name of…** that'll lead our boys to Anniston, Alabama where a ghost is haunting a drive-in theater.


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